Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bentley, Professor of Social Epidemiology and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne

Rental properties are more likely be mouldy than other homes. This is a concern as excessive mould growth is known to harm human health.

Once buildings are infested with mould, the difficult and costly issue of remediation arises. Landlords and tenants are caught in the middle of a tussle over who is responsible for fixing the problem. As one Melbourne renter and research participant told our colleague Maria Gatto, during a study validating mould reporting:

The landlord came around [and] walked [into] every room where there’s black mould on the ceiling – like it’s freaking [something out of the TV series] Stranger Things – and she’s like, ‘Oh, a little bit of mould in winter, it’s very normal, it’s fine […] this happens every winter, it’s not a big deal’.

Heading into winter, after three consecutive La Niñas, conditions are ripe for a mega mould season. Combining our expertise in health, law, building and construction, we examine the problem of mould in homes and offer guidance for both renters and landlords.

Read more:
Sudden mould outbreak after all this rain? You’re not alone – but you are at risk

Ideal conditions for growth

Mould is a fungal growth that reproduces via tiny airborne particles called spores. When these spores settle on moist, plant-based construction materials such as wood, wallpaper or plasterboard, they can form a new colony.

Growth is more likely when homes are cold, humid, lack air flow, or suffer from water damage. Outbreaks have been reported in flooded parts of southeastern Australia.

So why is the problem of household mould worse in rentals? Weak regulation of tenancy legislation is just one of many factors. Rental properties tend to be poorly maintained, with structural problems such as leaks. Given this, they can be expensive to heat.

How mould makes people sick

The World Health Organization recognises mould can be harmful.

A 2022 Asthma Australia report revealed people living in mouldy homes were more likely to have asthma and allergies. A systematic review of peer-reviewed research found children living in mouldy homes were more likely to experience asthma, wheeze and allergic irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and mouth (allergic rhinitis).

Living with mould is a source of stress. People worry about the consequences for their health and there is a growing body of evidence describing the negative mental health effects of mouldy, damp homes.

Read more:
Thinking of buying a dehumidifier? Advice from an expert on mould and damp

Problems with managing mould in the rental sector

There is a gap between building and residential tenancies legislation. A building deemed to meet the minimum standards of the construction code with respect to mould may not meet the minimum standards for rental. That’s because there’s ambiguity in the National Construction Code around “minimum standards of health”.

For example the Victorian Building Act 1993 contains some provisions for the relevant surveyor to serve a notice on the basis of a health circumstance affecting a user. However, there is no guidance on how to assess the health of the indoor environment, or to deliver a building direction that will address the root cause for mould. This varies by state and territory.

Mould remediation can be costly. A study by Victoria University found half the defects causing mould were water-related. These were more expensive to fix than other problems, by an average of A$7,000.

Each winter, Tenants Victoria deals with a spike in renters seeking legal help to resolve their mould problems. This led to the service launching an annual winter Mould Clinic in 2021.

Despite increased legal protections, renters are still struggling to get mould fixed. For these reasons, many renters find the legal process doesn’t offer a solution to their problem, and instead move to a new property, with all its attendant costs and stresses. Others can’t afford to leave, or live in social housing with limited transfer options.

Charting mould in homes across Australia

Where does the responsibility lie?

Tenancy legislation varies by state and territory. Renters should familiarise themselves with the regulations in their jurisdiction.

In Victoria, residential tenancies legislation has set the criteria that “each room in the rented premises must be free from mould and damp caused by or related to the building structure”. Landlords now must disclose if they have treated mould in the past three years.

Similarly, new legislation in Queensland (coming into effect in September) states rental properties should be free from vermin, damp and mould where this is caused by issues with the structural soundness of the property.

In New South Wales, the landlord needs to disclose signs of mould and dampness in the condition report (but not necessarily have fixed it). Mould is not mentioned in the ACT residential tenancies legislation.

For the most part, the responsibility for mould in rental properties lies with landlords if the cause is structural –- for example, if a broken or faulty window frame has let rainwater inside.

Requests for urgent repairs can be accompanied by an assessment report by an occupational hygienist, environmental health professional or expert from the local council. People with an existing health condition such as asthma can include a doctor’s report.

What next?

To achieve change across all relevant domains of regulation, construction, natural disaster response and government policy, we need a sustainable, broad healthy housing agenda in Australia. We also need to consider options for immediate action.

As one Victorian renter noted:

When we buy a car for the purpose of driving on the roads, we’re required to get a roadworthy certificate to make sure it’s safe, because of the risk to other people […] Ideally it would be great if there was [some] kind of ‘rentworthy’ certificate […] to demonstrate that the property has been inspected, to identify any structural issues that might affect the tenant’s health and wellbeing. And that that be available to tenants […] before they enter into a lease or before (the property is) even able to be advertised.

Read more:
Mould and damp health costs are about 3 times those of sugary drinks. We need a healthy housing agenda

For those in Melbourne, a free Tenants Victoria event on this topic will be held at RMIT University Storey Hall on Wednesday, May 17 at 1pm. It will be followed by a free pop-up legal clinic.

Quotes in this article were collected by Maria Gatto as part of her Masters of Public Health, conducted at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health in 2022.

Rebecca Bentley receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council.

Nicola Willand receives or has received funding for research from various organisations, including the Australian Research Council, the Victorian State Government, the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the Future Fuels Collaborative Research Centre and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Centre. She is affiliated with the Australian Institute of Architects.

Tim Law receives or has received funding from the Victorian Building Authority, the National Health Medical and Research Council, the Australian Building Codes Board, Tasmania Consumer Building and Occupational Services, and Commercialisation Australia.

– ref. Breaking the mould: why rental properties are more likely to be mouldy and what’s needed to stop people getting sick – https://theconversation.com/breaking-the-mould-why-rental-properties-are-more-likely-to-be-mouldy-and-whats-needed-to-stop-people-getting-sick-205472

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danny Liu, Associate Professor, University of Sydney

In just a few months, higher education has moved from being afraid of how generative AI like ChatGPT could help students cheat, to cautiously embracing it by allowing students to use it under certain circumstances.

In getting to grips with how AI will change education and society, we’ve heard mainly from educators, university management and other experts. But what about students, whose studies, careers, relationships and futures will be most impacted by AI?

We are academics from universities in Sydney and Hong Kong, specialising in higher education practice and research.

Over the last two months, we have asked students their thoughts about how AI should be used in their education through questionnaires and focus groups. This includes a survey of more than 450 students in Hong Kong and pilot focus group panels with 13 Australian students.

Here are some the key themes to emerge so far from this ongoing research.

AI makes knowledge easier to access

Students recognised that ChatGPT was helpful for summarising, brainstorming, explaining and suggesting. They mentioned how it made it easier to learn difficult topics in a conversational way.

As one told us:

I’ve had a mostly positive experience […] Explanations of new concepts are always really well done and you [can] ask it to explain something a little more clearly.

Others mentioned it helps them learn during classes:

to grab quick definitions, explain concepts to me, and assist in discussions when the conversation goes quiet or people are confused.

Students are aware of the risks

The more experience students had with ChatGPT, the more nuanced their views were. One student noted ChatGPT “will miss out on important points or misunderstand”.

That’s why I am not relying on it for assignments, instead it is very helpful for my daily learning.

Another went further to say that using AI improved their critical thinking:

I simply put the whole assignment in to see what it would generate. The answer was quite abysmal […] This was really valuable information because I developed critical thinking while critiquing its work.

Another student added, “I think students really need to understand that AI is not always correct”.

In the survey of more than 450 students across Hong Kong universities, 80% said they understood its limitations and potential inaccuracies.

AI is key to their future careers

Students talked about how AI could remove less desirable parts of work, to focus on more important thinking.

busywork can be done for us, and will be done for us in our future careers.

As one student put it:

for learning, it’s [like] an upgraded version of Google. Let’s say if you are new to a topic, you can ask ChatGPT questions and treat it as interactive Wikipedia.

Students said they wanted their teachers to teach them “how to best use AI tools and make AI tools a common part of education, just like PowerPoint and Excel”.

This includes educating them about risks, biases and limitations so they can understand the technology they will inevitably be using.

Students agreed guidelines about “what happens if AI is used” are needed going forward. As one noted:

Please do not assume the worst of us. Rather, teach us how to use this technology in the right way and learn alongside it.

Concerns about equity and ethics

Students were concerned about the disadvantages that lack of access to ChatGPT would mean for some people.

all students should have the same resources as one another, being of a lower income should not be a reason why other students can do their assessments more efficiently.

Others noted AI was not necessarily free, as there were costs of accessing premium tools. Schools are also taking different approaches globally and locally, with some banning and some embracing AI. This could widen existing inequities.

Read more:
We need to change the way universities assess students, starting with these 3 things

Where to from here?

The Australian Universities Accord discussion paper highlights AI as a significant opportunity, and challenge.

This is something we cannot ignore. And students want universities to actively engage with AI for their benefit.

They do so knowing this is a “difficult time” for their teachers.

The traditional ways of learning […] are changing. But this technology is now our present and the future, we need our teachers to prepare us for it.

But they are worried about their futures and they want their education to prepare them for life after study, in a world that is changing rapidly.

if university wants to prepare people for later in life, why not encourage usage of a tool that would be available to us outside a strict academic setting?

We need to work with students, industries, communities, and governments to figure out how we can help our students engage productively and responsibly with AI. This is urgent work as the pace of AI development accelerates and has wide-ranging impacts across society perhaps beyond its developers’ understanding.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. ‘Please do not assume the worst of us’: students know AI is here to stay and want unis to teach them how to use it – https://theconversation.com/please-do-not-assume-the-worst-of-us-students-know-ai-is-here-to-stay-and-want-unis-to-teach-them-how-to-use-it-203426

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marian Makkar, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, RMIT University

On May 10, Netflix dropped its four-part docuseries, Queen Cleopatra. Executive produced by actress Jada Pinkett-Smith as part of her African Queens series, Queen Cleopatra focuses on Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Egypt, through testimonies and dramatic reenactments.

The docuseries has been met with backlash over Cleopatra being depicted as Black. It is viewed as a form of cultural misrepresentation and historical revisionism. These point to Netflix’s appropriation of Egyptian culture and heritage.

The fact that Queen Cleopatra is classified a documentary over drama has further angered audiences because it lends misplaced legitimacy to the series and its depiction of Egyptian history.

This raises important questions. What is cultural appropriation? Why is this docuseries problematic? How should brands take more responsibility when representing other cultures?

What is cultural appropriation exactly?

In my work, cultural appropriation takes many forms, such as

• non-Indigenous people wanting to learn a culture’s traditions, then turning it into a business (for example, sweat lodge ceremonies)

• movies and books adopting real or imagined Indigenous traditions (such as in the film Dances with Wolves)

• jewellery using Indigenous symbols

• and the natural health market adopting Chinese traditional medicine.

Some can be clearer forms of appropriation than others. Mimicking symbols or names are intentional forms of appropriation (such as the case of Lego using Maōri names), compared to the easy entanglement of culture and intellectual knowledge (for example, fashion designs inspired by varied cultures).

Read more:
Why the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb would rewrite history

Why is Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra a case of cultural appropriation?

The type of appropriation observed in the Queen Cleopatra docuseries is best described as “subject appropriation”. This is where outsiders make the culture or Indigenous people’s lives the subject of their story.

Cleopatra’s story told by Western experts on Egypt’s behalf is an act of separating the culture from its people. Not only does it exploit Indigenous cultural knowledge, but it nullifies cultural meanings specific to Egyptian natives.

A wave of public outrage in Egypt arose over the narrative of the series. Since the trailer’s release, prominent Egyptian personalities, including comedian and political activist Bassem Youssef, called out its distortion and appropriation of Egyptian culture.

The outrage is not about Cleopatra’s skin as depicted in the docuseries’ click-bait trailer. Skin colour did not matter to ancient Egyptians, nor does it matter in modern Egypt. It is Cleopatra’s remarkable achievements and lasting reputation that makes her a target for different groups claiming her as their own, such as Cleopatra being labelled as an “African Queen” instead of an Egyptian Queen.

The docuseries’ questionable experts

Besides what many people, including renowned Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, have called to be a form of cultural identity theft, the docuseries’ lack of consultation with Egyptian experts is perceived as a sign of disrespect.

Instead, Netflix invited Western “experts” with distorted views on facts. The documentary opens with a story from Classics Professor Shelley Haley saying that her confidence in Cleopatra’s ethnicity was influenced by her grandmother (not history) telling her, “I don’t care what they tell you in school, Cleopatra was Black.”

Others’ comments compared Cleopatra to a “chameleon”, saying she “looks different depending on who is depicting her”, and “the appeal of Cleopatra is that we imagine her” however we choose.

Statements that mix imagination and historical fact in a so-called documentary are the core argument of Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud Al-Semary’s legal case against Netflix. He calls for the immediate shutdown of Netflix in Egypt for its distortion of Egyptian history.

What is possibly the clearest example of cultural disrespect is the inclusion of Colleen Darnell as an expert. Known as a “vintage Egyptologist”, Darnell presents herself in cosplay from the 1920s. It is problematic because that era is synonymous with a time of violence by British colonial rulers in Egypt and Western nations robbing Egyptian artefacts.

The persistent problem of cultural appropriation

Appropriation and distortion of a culture’s beliefs can leave Indigenous people feeling violated and manipulated.

Netflix, a giant streaming platform, is guaranteed to have more viewers and make more money with their docuseries than Egypt’s recently released 90-minute documentary on Cleopatra. This way, Netflix deprives Egyptians of possible financial gains, while failing to recognise Egypt’s rights over others’ use and adaptation of their own history and culture.

Many argue Netflix exploited and offended Egyptian culture with this docuseries. A positive response to claims of appropriation would be for Netflix to prioritise its moral obligation of integrity and respect for other cultures over profit. However, the director’s reaction in the media was to call the claims “laughable”.

To avoid cultural divides, it is imperative that brands consider their responsibilities if and when representing another culture. It begins with positive intent, and ends with respect, cultural consultation and consent.

Marian Makkar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra cultural appreciation or cultural appropriation? – https://theconversation.com/is-netflixs-queen-cleopatra-cultural-appreciation-or-cultural-appropriation-205198

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ross Lawrenson, Professor of Population Health, University of Waikato

The New Zealand health system is currently in the throes of its biggest reorganisation in more than 20 years. The aim is to provide more efficiency and equity.

But while it is acknowledged New Zealand has under-invested in health infrastructure, more damaging has been the under-investment in people.

This lack of planning for the future health workforce is directly responsible for the staffing shortages now being experienced. These shortages are being patched up with short-term solutions such as attracting overseas-trained health workers with promises of quick pathways to citizenship.

So as well as structural reform of the health services, the vision for those services and subsequent workforce demands needs to be articulated. Ideally this would include a budget that invests in training more – and more diverse – New Zealand doctors.

Relentless demand

We know the demand for more doctors is relentless – fuelled by a growing and ageing population. At the same time, we have an ageing medical workforce, with many doctors planning to retire in the next decade.

There has been a 40% increase in the number of doctors registered with the Medical Council over the past decade, from 13,880 in 2012 to 19,623 in 2023 – a year-on-year increase of 3%.

To sustain this modest growth each year, we will need to increase the total medical workforce by 590 annually. We will also need an additional 300 doctors a year to replace those who are retiring or leaving to work in Australia and elsewhere.

Read more:
Critically understaffed and with Omicron looming, why isn’t NZ employing more of its foreign-trained doctors?

Yet we currently only have two medical schools training 550 doctors a year between them. So we continue to rely on importing doctors from other countries.

Out of the OECD, New Zealand has the highest dependency on overseas-trained doctors, with 42% of the workforce being international medical graduates (IMGs).

The regions with the lowest percentages of IMGs are Auckland (31%), Capital & Coast (34%), and Canterbury (36%). But this can climb to 60% in many rural regions. Last year, 1,232 IMGs were registered to practice here, reflecting the high demand for doctors not being met through local training and retention.

Paradoxically, one of Health New Zealand’s goals is to increase the number of Māori and Pacific doctors, which is hard to do when we rely on importing twice as many doctors as we train.

Our missing GPs

Doctor shortages are not evenly spread. There are particular problems in the less wealthy regions, and in particular specialities such as general practice. GPs are the backbone of the health system, with 90% of health consultations occurring in primary care.

Yet while we have increased the number of doctors by 5,000 over the past ten years, the number of GPs has only increased by 260. This means we have GP shortages, resulting in increasing demand on hospitals, increasing waiting times in the emergency departments, and a growing problem of late diagnosis and poorer health outcomes.

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has called for these shortages to be urgently addressed by increasing the number of junior doctors training in general practice to 300 per year. This is hardly possible with only two existing medical schools – it would mean more than half their total output of graduates going into the GP training programme.

Read more:
New Zealand’s health restructure is doomed to fall short unless its funding model is tackled first

Currently, just 25% of the 550 medical school graduates (130-140 doctors a year) choose to go into general practice. To achieve a goal of 300 we would need to double the number of doctors training or take a substantial number of junior doctors out of the other speciality training schemes.

There are geographical differences in where doctors are working, too. New Zealand graduates tend to choose to practice in the major centres where they have trained, while high needs communities and regional centres have to rely even more heavily on attracting IMGs.

Thus the Te Manawa Taki region – serving a predominantly rural population of over a million people across the central North Island, including 25% Maori – has 7% fewer doctors than the other regions (or 265 fewer doctors than would be expected).

Investing in training

The United Kingdom recently opened five new medical schools, while Canada is set to open three. In both countries, research showed doctors tended to stay and work in the area where they trained. The new medical schools are located in regions with high needs and recruitment difficulties.

There is no doubt New Zealand should be following suit.

Read more:
No one is mourning the end of district health boards, but rebuilding trust in the system won’t be easy

The New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association is calling for another 200 medical students a year to be trained. This should be just the start, with ongoing commitments to increase student numbers in line with the growing medical workforce.

But simply increasing the number of students going to Auckland and Otago medical schools will not work. We cannot expect different health workforce outcomes by doing the same thing again and again.

We need more doctors in training, we need to attract students from a wider range of backgrounds, we need to place these students in the regions they are needed, and we need a new curriculum that will prepare for a workforce consistent with the future demands of the New Zealand health system.

That can only be achieved with a new and more socially accountable medical school, and significant investment. It is said the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

Ross Lawrenson works for the University of Waikato which has a strategic goal of having a medical school. He has received grants in the past from Health Workforce New Zealand for training doctors and researching workforce needs.
He is a member of the National party.

– ref. New Zealand’s reliance on foreign doctors to plug gaps highlights the need for another medical school – https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-reliance-on-foreign-doctors-to-plug-gaps-highlights-the-need-for-another-medical-school-204668

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Ozalp, Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University

Last weekend, Turkey held a historic election that will be crucial in deciding in the way the country is heading. Although almost all pre-election polls were predicting a narrow win for the main opposition candidate, the results are inconclusive, and the country will go to a runoff election in two weeks’ time.

The new constitution voted in 2017 stipulates the parliament and presidential elections must be held at the same time. To win the presidential component of the election, a candidate must garner more than 50% of the votes. If none of the candidates receives greater than 50% of the votes, the election goes to a runoff election between the two candidates with the highest votes.

This is precisely the situation Turkey faces now. Incumbent President Recep Tayyib Erdogan and his closest rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, will face each other in a runoff election on May 28.

Who is Erdogan’s opposition and what were their arguments?

There are two main blocks that fought to win in a bitter and ruthless campaign.

The broad opposition National Alliance is made up of six political parties, spearheaded by the Kilicdaroglu-led Republican People’s Party (CHP) party. CHP is known for its pro-secularist policies, and for this reason have been fiercely opposed by the religious segment of Turkish voters.

To turn this image around, Kilicdaroglu promised a broad reconciliation policy to unite the country and heal the wounds of the past. He also followed an appeasement strategy by drawing under the National Alliance the national and conservative leaning Good Party (IP) and three minor religious parties, the conservative Happiness Party (SP), Future Party (GP) and Solution Party (DEVA).

The last two parties’ inclusion in the alliance are significant, as they are respectively led by Ahmet Davudoglu, a former prime minister and Erdogan’s former foreign minister, and Ali Babacan, who served as the minister of economy until 2019 under successive Erdogan governments.

Holding the alliance together was important, as a key criticism against the opposition was its fragmented nature, which some argued would make it impossible to form a concerted front against Erdogan. The National Alliance successfully overcame this hurdle.

The next problem was who would be the collective candidate of the National Alliance. The polls consistently showed mayors of Ankara and Istanbul ahead of Kilicdaroglu as candidates. Turkish voters tend to prefer politicians with proven public office track record – two of the mayors had this but Kilicdaroglu did not.

In a decision some argue was politically motivated, Imamoglu was charged and sentenced to three years for insulting the Electoral Council (YSK). This took him out of contention.

Another spanner in the works for the National Alliance was the self-nomination of Muharrem Ince for the presidential election. Ince was CHP’s nominee in the 2018 election where he lost to Erdogan.

The National Alliance was fearful Ince’s candidacy would split opposition votes, which would in turn take the election to a second round that would advantage Erdogan. Ince announced his withdrawal from the race two days before the election, after several images were circulated on internet alleging him having an affair.

Battered and bruised, Kilicdaroglu remained as the main opposition candidate in the last stretch. He had three main arguments in his campaign.

The first was the failure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s 2023 goals and objectives. Turkey was supposed to enter the top 10 economies in the world. Turkey barely stays within the top 20, at 19th.

What is worse, the economy has been on a downturn for the past three years. The Turkish lira has plummeted in value and inflation has reached as high as 85.5%.

Read more:
Will the Turkish earthquakes affect how the country is governed?

Kilicdaroglu has pointed to the high price of onion and potatoes as a symbol of economic crisis and worsening cost of living for many Turks.

The second is the increasing reputation of nepotism, corruption and wasteful government spending, which has been long criticised by many segments of Turkish society. Mismanagement of the government were widely criticised immediately after the February 2023 earthquake, delivering further a blow to Erdogan and his government.

Finally, Kilictaroglu tried to present a new vision for the electorate. He announced a four-step reform program that would make Turkey

• more democratic
• more productive, with investment in agriculture and industry
• a social state with services
• able to sustain these reforms.

What was Erdogan’s election strategy?

Unfortunately for Kilicdaroglu, his message could not be heard by all voters, especially those in small towns and rural areas who primarily rely on conventional media of TV and newspapers.

As a result, he won the majority vote in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, but Erdogan was in front in inland areas and smaller cities.

A key strategy for Erdogan is controlling the Turkish media. Turkey has one of the highest rates of detained and jailed journalists in the world – in fact, it is second only to China. During April, Erdogan received more than 33 hours of airtime on the state-run TRT channel. Kilicdaroglu had just 32 minutes.

The incumbent government’s job was relatively easier. Erdogan was the natural candidate for the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led People’s Alliance. Ultra nationalist MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) has been supporting the AKP government since 2015. The alliance also included several minor religious and nationalist parties.

Read more:
Secondary crises after the Turkey-Syria earthquakes are now the greatest threat to life

The ruling block had three main arguments against the opposition.
First was the secular history of CHP, established by Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and now led by Kilicdaroglu. In the 1990’s, CHP was the leading defender of the headscarf (hijab) ban for women.

Erdogan argued if Kilicdaroglu became president, religious Muslims in Turkey would lose their freedoms gained in the past two decades under his rule.

Second was Kilicdaroglu’s Alevi religious identity. Alevism is a branch of Shi’a Islam followed by about 5-10% of Turks within a largely Sunni nation. The Erdogan camp was hoping the Sunni majority would not relate to Kilicdaroglu’s Alevi orientation.

Third was the accusation that Kilicdaroglu would collude with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK, the Kurdish separatist organisation that was responsible for many terrorist activities in Turkey. The extreme implication was that Kilicdaroglu would divide the country along Turkish and Kurdish lines, a charge vehemently denied by Kilicdaroglu.

It seems the fear mongering strategy against Kilicdaroglu worked, and Erdogan will go to the runoff election ahead of his rival.

What is likely to happen next?

Erdogan, nevertheless, has been wounded. If 50+% gives political legitimacy, and Erdogan is the incumbent president, he lost some legitimacy by receiving less than 50% of the votes last weekend.

The Turkish media will play a key role in the next two weeks. They are in a conundrum. They cannot be too critical of Erdogan and support Kilicdaroglu for fear of a post-election crackdown if Erdogan wins. But they would also not want to be seen as too supportive of the Erdogan government in case Kilicdaroglu wins the election.

Erdogan will have no qualms about putting excessive pressure on the media, and that may be sufficient to tip the election in his favour.

Kilicdaroglu will have a chance to face Erdogan, with no other opposition candidate, in an electoral duel. If he is able to appeal to people who did not vote for Erdogan, he may pull off a narrow win. His strategy will be to call for all voters to turn up and vote if they do not want another five year’s of Erdogan rule and economic hardship.

Mehmet Ozalp is affiliated with Islamic Sciences and research Academy.

– ref. After a brutal presidential election campaign, Turkey is headed to a run-off contest. Here’s why – https://theconversation.com/after-a-brutal-presidential-election-campaign-turkey-is-headed-to-a-run-off-contest-heres-why-205406

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland

The outcry was loud and swift last week after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved a new coal mine in central Queensland. It’s the first coal mine Labor has approved since coming to power a year ago.

The project, the Isaac River mine, will extract metallurgical coal to be burned for steel-making. Environmental groups decried the potential damage the mine would cause to wildlife, water quality and the climate.

Any new coal mine is inconsistent with the global goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. But the Isaac River mine is probably the least bad of those recently under consideration.

The mine would produce only metallurgical coal, which is still needed by the steel industry, and would operate for just five years. Importantly, we shouldn’t let controversy over the approval of a small, short-lived mine distract from more consequential recent decisions on coal – and those still looming.

A lesson in spin-doctoring

Plibersek’s handling of recent coal mine announcements is a masterclass in egregious political spin-doctoring.

On May 5, Plibersek triumphantly announced she had rejected two Queensland coalmine proposals – the MacMines China Stone mine and the Stanmore Resources Range project – because the proponents failed to provide information about potential damage to the environment.

The decision was widely welcomed. But in reality, scuppering the mines was an easy and relatively uncontroversial decision for Plibersek. Both proposals had been moribund for a long time. Indeed, MacMines abandoned its proposal in 2019 and the phone number for its Darwin office is no longer even connected.

Plibersek rejected the mines not because of the damage they would cause to nature, but because the proponents had for years failed to provide basic information to the department.

Some observers suspected the announcement was meant to soften us up for bad news.

That news came six days later, when details of the Isaac River mine approval were quietly uploaded to the federal environment department’s website. The coal mine, east of Moranbah, will reportedly produce about 500,000 tonnes of metallurgical coal each year for five years.

The approval was made public right before Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech. This follows a well-worn strategy of governments burying bad news by releasing it concurrently with bigger news events.

A spokesperson for Plibersek defended the approval, saying the federal government “has to make decisions in accordance with the facts and the national environment law – that’s what happens on every project, and that’s what’s happened here”.

Thermal vs coking coal

In weighing up the merits of Plibersek’s decision on the Isaac River mine, we must make a distinction between thermal coal, used in electricity generation, and metallurgical or “coking” coal, used in steel-making.

Metallurgical coal accounts for about half of Australia’s coal exports by tonnage, but the great majority by value.

The world is rapidly moving away from burning coal to generate electricity. Much of Europe will be coal-free by 2030. The United States and other developed countries are following suit.

The much-publicised “return of coal” resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine never amounted to much and is already over.

By continuing to export thermal coal, Australia is delaying the inevitable transition for the sake of short-term profits.

So what’s the picture for metallurgical coal? Low-emissions alternatives for steel-making are available, but it will be some time before they’re deployed at scale. So demand for metallurgical coal is expected to continue for years, or even decades.

Even bodies such as the International Energy Agency, which have called for an end to all new fossil fuel investment, could scarcely raise strong objections to a small-scale metallurgical coal mine set to close in five years.

Let’s not get distracted

In these circumstances, Plibersek played the media well by making the Isaac River mine the featured dish in a menu of bad news.

That approval was not the only decision made by Plibersek last week, or the most important one. She also allowed three other mine projects – two in New South Wales and one in Queensland – to proceed to the next stage of environmental assessment.

These projects had been sent back to Plibersek for further consideration after an environment group requested the effects of climate change be considered. The projects are still subject to further steps in the approvals process. But Plibersek’s decision to let them proceed provides a major boost.

The projects include an expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine in NSW. It would produce about 12 million tonnes of thermal coal a year – more than the Adani Carmichael mine. It’s expected to operate until 2050, by which time many countries have pledged to quit coal-fired power completely.

Plibersek now faces a huge political test when it comes time to decide on those, and many more coal projects in the planning pipeline. On current indications, climate impacts will be disregarded completely.

In February, Plibersek rejected mining magnate Clive Palmer’s proposed Central Queensland coal project, on the grounds it would damage rivers and the Great Barrier Reef.

So under this government, mines may be rejected because they would damage the local environment or for failing to get their paperwork right – but not because they enable emissions that will help destroy the global environment.

This is a clear weakness in national environment law. The Albanese government could have fixed it, by introducing a so-called “climate trigger”. This would have enabled it to knock back a development proposal on the grounds of its climate impact. But it has refused to do so.

Leer más:
Labor has introduced its controversial climate bill to parliament. Here’s how to give it real teeth

Big coal tests remain

Optimists can console themselves with the idea that things would have been worse if the Morrison government was still in power. But none of the approval decisions announced by Labor so far differ from those we might have expected under the Coalition.

And there is one intriguing case where things look like going the other way. In the lead-up to last year’s federal election, then prime minister Scott Morrison blocked a gas-drilling proposal off the New South Wales coast, using ministerial powers he secretly conferred upon himself.

The Albanese government has taken legal action to nullify that decision.

Many more federal decisions on coal mining projects are yet to come. If all or most are approved, Labor’s efforts to reduce domestic emissions will count for little or nothing – a fact no amount of spin-doctoring can conceal.

Leer más:
Tanya Plibersek killed off Clive Palmer’s coal mine. It’s an Australian first – but it may never happen again

John Quiggin is a former Member of the Climate Change Authority. Some of his work has been published by The Australia Institute, mentioned in this article.

– ref. Yes, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved a coal mine. But save the angst for decisions that matter more – https://theconversation.com/yes-environment-minister-tanya-plibersek-approved-a-coal-mine-but-save-the-angst-for-decisions-that-matter-more-205561

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland

The outcry was loud and swift last week after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved a new coal mine in central Queensland. It’s the first coal mine Labor has approved since coming to power a year ago.

The project, the Isaac River mine, will extract metallurgical coal to be burned for steel-making. Environmental groups decried the potential damage the mine would cause to wildlife, water quality and the climate.

Any new coal mine is inconsistent with the global goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. But the Isaac River mine is probably the least bad of those recently under consideration.

The mine would produce only metallurgical coal, which is still needed by the steel industry, and would operate for just five years. Importantly, we shouldn’t let controversy over the approval of a small, short-lived mine distract from more consequential decisions on coal.

A lesson in spin-doctoring

Plibersek’s handling of recent coal mine announcements is a masterclass in egregious political spin-doctoring.

On May 5, Plibersek triumphantly announced she had rejected two Queensland coalmine proposals – the MacMines China Stone mine and the Stanmore Resources Range project – because the proponents failed to provide information about potential damage to the environment.

The decision was widely welcomed. But in reality, scuppering the mines was an easy and relatively uncontroversial decision for Plibersek. Both proposals had been moribund for a long time. Indeed, MacMines abandoned its proposal in 2019 and the phone number for its Darwin office is no longer even connected.

Plibersek rejected the mines not because of the damage they would cause to nature, but because the proponents had for years failed to provide basic information to the department.

Some observers suspected the announcement was meant to soften us up for bad news.

That news came six days later, when details of the Isaac River mine approval were quietly uploaded to the federal environment department’s website. The coal mine, east of Moranbah, will reportedly produce about 500,000 tonnes of metallurgical coal each year for five years.

The approval was made public right before Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech. This follows a well-worn strategy of governments burying bad news by releasing it concurrently with bigger news events.

A spokesperson for Plibersek defended the approval, saying the federal government “has to make decisions in accordance with the facts and the national environment law – that’s what happens on every project, and that’s what’s happened here”.

Thermal vs coking coal

In weighing up the merits of Plibersek’s decision on the Isaac River mine, we must make a distinction between thermal coal, used in electricity generation, and metallurgical or “coking” coal, used in steel-making.

Metallurgical coal accounts for about half of Australia’s coal exports by tonnage, but the great majority by value.

The world is rapidly moving away from burning coal to generate electricity. Much of Europe will be coal-free by 2030. The United States and other developed countries are following suit.

The much-publicised “return of coal” resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine never amounted to much and is already over.

By continuing to export thermal coal, Australia is delaying the inevitable transition for the sake of short-term profits.

So what’s the picture for metallurgical coal? Low-emissions alternatives for steel-making are available, but it will be some time before they’re deployed at scale. So demand for metallurgical coal is expected to continue for years, or even decades.

Even bodies such as the International Energy Agency, which have called for an end to all new fossil fuel investment, could scarcely raise strong objections to a small-scale metallurgical coal mine set to close in five years.

Let’s not get distracted

In these circumstances, Plibersek played the media well by making the Isaac River mine the featured dish in a menu of bad news.

That approval was not the only decision made by Plibersek last week, or the most important one. She also allowed three other mine projects – two in New South Wales and one in Queensland – to proceed to the next stage of environmental assessment.

These projects had been sent back to Plibersek for further consideration after an environment group requested the effects of climate change be considered. The projects are still subject to further steps in the approvals process. But Plibersek’s decision to let them proceed provides a major boost.

The projects include an expansion of the Mount Pleasant mine in NSW. It would produce about 12 million tonnes of thermal coal a year – more than the Adani Carmichael mine. It’s expected to operate until 2050, by which time many countries have pledged to quit coal-fired power completely.

Plibersek now faces a huge political test when it comes time to decide on those, and many more coal projects in the planning pipeline. On current indications, climate impacts will be disregarded completely.

In February, Plibersek rejected mining magnate Clive Palmer’s proposed Central Queensland coal project, on the grounds it would damage rivers and the Great Barrier Reef.

So under this government, mines may be rejected because they would damage the local environment or for failing to get their paperwork right – but not because they enable emissions that will help destroy the global environment.

This is a clear weakness in national environment law. The Albanese government could have fixed it, by introducing a so-called “climate trigger”. This would have enabled it to knock back a development proposal on the grounds of its climate impact. But it has refused to do so.

Read more:
Labor has introduced its controversial climate bill to parliament. Here’s how to give it real teeth

Big coal tests are still remaining

Optimists can console themselves with the idea that things would have been worse if the Morrison government was still in power. But none of the approval decisions announced by Labor so far differ from those we might have expected under the Coalition.

And there is one intriguing case where things look like going the other way. In the lead-up to last year’s federal election, then prime minister Scott Morrison blocked a gas-drilling proposal off the New South Wales coast, using ministerial powers he secretly conferred upon himself.

The Albanese government has taken legal action to nullify that decision.

Many more federal decisions on coal mining projects are yet to come. If all or most are approved, Labor’s efforts to reduce domestic emissions will count for little or nothing – a fact no amount of spin-doctoring can conceal.

Read more:
Tanya Plibersek killed off Clive Palmer’s coal mine. It’s an Australian first – but it may never happen again

John Quiggin is a former Member of the Climate Change Authority. Some of his work has been published by The Australia Institute, mentioned in this article.

– ref. Yes, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved a coal mine. But let’s save the angst for decisions that matter more – https://theconversation.com/yes-environment-minister-tanya-plibersek-approved-a-coal-mine-but-lets-save-the-angst-for-decisions-that-matter-more-205561

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Raymond, Lecturer, Australian National University

The last time voters headed to the polls in Thailand was in 2019, following five years of a repressive military dictatorship. Thai voters spoke nervously of their democratic aspirations and allowed a military-led government into power.

Now, after four years of a functioning parliamentary democracy, Thai voters have roared. With nearly all votes counted in Sunday’s parliamentary election, they have resoundingly rejected the junta and its successor military-proxy parties.

Thailand’s most progressive party, Move Forward, looks set to gain the most seats in the new parliament. Close behind is the more established and similarly liberal Pheu Thai party of the polarising Shinawatra dynasty.

Following them in third place is Bhumjaithai. This rural-based, more traditional party of patronage politics had recently been the previous government’s coalition partner.

Trailing far behind, in fourth and fifth place, are the two military-proxy parties: Palang Pracharat, headed by former deputy prime minister and army chief Prawit Wongsuwan, and United Thai Nation, headed by current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the 2014 coup.

Will this usher in a democratic spring?

The result reflects a huge boost in support for Move Forward, which won half as many seats outright in the 2019 election. Now, Move Forward looks likely to take all of but one of the 33 Bangkok seats in parliament, which in the past was seen as the stronghold of Pheu Thai.

It is hard not to wonder whether the strong performance of recently elected Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, an independent who has set new standards in transparency, accountability and pure hard work, might have affected the choices of Bangkok voters.

Move Forward has a similar leader in the Harvard-educated former businessman Pita Limjaroenrat – someone who is both well-educated and business-minded.

The formation of a new government trenchantly opposed to the involvement of the military in politics seems logical, potentially ushering in a new progressive, democratic era in Thai politics, with Pita as the new prime minister.

This could be transformational for all of Southeast Asia – especially the countries on the mainland. Democratic institutions have taken a battering in the region in recent years, with Myanmar’s 2021 coup and Cambodia’s turn to increasingly autocratic rule under Hun Sen.

The dramatic decline in support for Thailand’s military-aligned, incumbent government likely reflects a general sentiment among the Thai people that it was simply time for the military to go.

Prayuth has been prime minister since May 2014, when as a military officer he undertook a coup against Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government. Since then, the Thai people have grown tired of his autocratic style of rule, short temper and mediocre management of the economy.

To speculate further, Thais may feel that the military’s job in overseeing a monarchical transition from Rama IX to Rama X is well and truly now complete.

Read more:
‘This country belongs to the people’: why young Thais are no longer afraid to take on the monarchy

But obstacles remain

But the election result also doesn’t guarantee Thailand’s opposition forces will be able to form a government.

The primary challenge facing the leading parties is the illiberal design of the 2017 constitution. Because it contains a clause allowing 250 unelected, junta-appointed senators to participate in a joint sitting to choose the next prime minister, the military-proxy parties can still, in theory, cobble together a coalition to retain power.

If they received the support of the parties that made up the previous government (Bhumjaithai and the Democrats), they could form a ruling coalition with the
roughly 170 seats they all won in total in Sunday’s vote, along with the support of the 250 junta-appointed senators.

If this were to occur, they would be a minority government, unable to pass laws without opposition support, and subject to no-confidence motions. But they might hope they could lure away opposition parliamentarians, using various inducements like ministerial positions, to achieve a majority in the lower house.

The second challenge for the opposition parties is forming a democratic coalition. Will Pheu Thai accept Pita as prime minister, rather than one its own three candidates, Srettha Thavisin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra or Chaikasem Nitisiri, as the prime ministerial candidate? Would Pheu Thai try to elevate Paetongtarn – the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – into the role?

Another major question is whether Pheu Thai would agree to Move Forward’s controversial policy of reforming Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law. Move Forward wants to change the law, which criminalises insulting the monarchy, so it is less vulnerable to being weaponised as a way to attack political opponents. The party insists this is not a step towards becoming a republic.

The chances of both parties forming a working coalition would be strengthened if they could bring Bhumjaithai into the government. That party has swung between both sides of the political spectrum over the decades.

But this would mean Bhumjaithai accepting the stances of both Move Forward and Pheu Thai to roll back Thailand’s controversial decision last year to decriminalise marijuana. Both parties are proposing to restrict use to medical purposes.

Bhumjaithai’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, the current health minister and a cannabis advocate, has insisted that changing Thailand’s cannabis law is non-negotiable for his party.

Could a ‘judicial coup’ derail negotiations?

The third challenge facing the opposition parties is perhaps the most worrying. This is the possibility the conservative establishment in Thailand will find a way to invalidate the election result through court action, or a “judicial coup”, as it has become known in Thailand.

There are strong precedents for this, as previous progressive parties have been dissolved through court rulings – a misfortune yet to befall any of the conservative parties.

Pita is currently facing a lawsuit related to his possession of shares in a media company. Meanwhile, Pheu Thai is facing litigation related to allowing “outsiders” to run its affairs.

There is reason to think we may know the election outcome sooner than in 2019. The Electoral Commission seems to have performed more competently in counting votes this time, and does not have to decide how to implement a complicated formula to allocate party-list seats. This means the joint sitting of parliament should happen faster and a coalition will soon emerge.

But only then will we have any certainty the people’s voices have truly been heard.

Read more:
Thailand at a critical juncture with pro-democracy protesters again set to clash with police

Greg Raymond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Thailand is on the verge of a new democratic spring, but significant obstacles could stand in the way – https://theconversation.com/thailand-is-on-the-verge-of-a-new-democratic-spring-but-significant-obstacles-could-stand-in-the-way-205207

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Raymond, Lecturer, Australian National University

The last time voters headed to the polls in Thailand was in 2019, following five years of a repressive military dictatorship. Thai voters spoke nervously of their democratic aspirations and allowed a military-led government into power.

Now, after four years of a functioning parliamentary democracy, Thai voters have roared. With nearly all votes counted in Sunday’s parliamentary election, they have resoundingly rejected the junta and its successor military-proxy parties.

Thailand’s most progressive party, Move Forward, looks set to gain the most seats in the new parliament. Close behind is the more established and similarly liberal Pheu Thai party of the polarising Shinawatra dynasty.

Following them in third place is Bhumjaithai. This rural-based, more traditional party of patronage politics had recently been the previous government’s coalition partner.

Trailing far behind, in fourth and fifth place, are the two military-proxy parties: Palang Pracharat, headed by former deputy prime minister and army chief Prawit Wongsuwan, and United Thai Nation, headed by current Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the 2014 coup.

Will this usher in a democratic spring?

The result reflects a huge boost in support for Move Forward, which won half as many seats outright in the 2019 election. Now, Move Forward looks likely to take all of but one of the 33 Bangkok seats in parliament, which in the past was seen as the stronghold of Pheu Thai.

It is hard not to wonder whether the strong performance of recently elected Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt, an independent who has set new standards in transparency, accountability and pure hard work, might have affected the choices of Bangkok voters.

Move Forward has a similar leader in the Harvard-educated former businessman Pita Limjaroenrat – someone who is both well-educated and business-minded.

The formation of a new government trenchantly opposed to the involvement of the military in politics seems logical, potentially ushering in a new progressive, democratic era in Thai politics, with Pita as the new prime minister.

This could be transformational for all of Southeast Asia – especially the countries on the mainland. Democratic institutions have taken a battering in the region in recent years, with Myanmar’s 2021 coup and Cambodia’s turn to increasingly autocratic rule under Hun Sen.

The dramatic decline in support for Thailand’s military-aligned, incumbent government likely reflects a general sentiment among the Thai people that it was simply time for the military to go.

Prayuth has been prime minister since May 2014, when as a military officer he undertook a coup against Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government. Since then, the Thai people have grown tired of his autocratic style of rule, short temper and mediocre management of the economy.

To speculate further, Thais may feel that the military’s job in overseeing a monarchical transition from Rama IX to Rama X is well and truly now complete.

Read more:
‘This country belongs to the people’: why young Thais are no longer afraid to take on the monarchy

But obstacles remain

But the election result also doesn’t guarantee Thailand’s opposition forces will be able to form a government.

The primary challenge facing the leading parties is the illiberal design of the 2017 constitution. Because it contains a clause allowing 250 unelected, junta-appointed senators to participate in a joint sitting to choose the next prime minister, the military-proxy parties can still, in theory, cobble together a coalition to retain power.

If they received the support of the parties that made up the previous government (Bhumjaithai and the Democrats), they could form a ruling coalition with the
roughly 170 seats they all won in total in Sunday’s vote, along with the support of the 250 junta-appointed senators.

If this were to occur, they would be a minority government, unable to pass laws without opposition support, and subject to no-confidence motions. But they might hope they could lure away opposition parliamentarians, using various inducements like ministerial positions, to achieve a majority in the lower house.

The second challenge for the opposition parties is forming a democratic coalition. Will Pheu Thai accept Pita as prime minister, rather than one its own three candidates, Srettha Thavisin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra or Chaikasem Nitisiri, as the prime ministerial candidate? Would Pheu Thai try to elevate Paetongtarn – the daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – into the role?

Another major question is whether Pheu Thai would agree to Move Forward’s controversial policy of reforming Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law. Move Forward wants to change the law, which criminalises insulting the monarchy, so it is less vulnerable to being weaponised as a way to attack political opponents. The party insists this is not a step towards becoming a republic.

The chances of both parties forming a working coalition would be strengthened if they could bring Bhumjaithai into the government. That party has swung between both sides of the political spectrum over the decades.

But this would mean Bhumjaithai accepting the stances of both Move Forward and Pheu Thai to roll back Thailand’s controversial decision last year to decriminalise marijuana. Both parties are proposing to restrict use to medical purposes.

Bhumjaithai’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, the current health minister and a cannabis advocate, has insisted that changing Thailand’s cannabis law is non-negotiable for his party.

Could a ‘judicial coup’ derail negotiations?

The third challenge facing the opposition parties is perhaps the most worrying. This is the possibility the conservative establishment in Thailand will find a way to invalidate the election result through court action, or a “judicial coup”, as it has become known in Thailand.

There are strong precedents for this, as previous progressive parties have been dissolved through court rulings – a misfortune yet to befall any of the conservative parties.

Pita is currently facing a lawsuit related to his possession of shares in a media company. Meanwhile, Pheu Thai is facing litigation related to allowing “outsiders” to run its affairs.

There is reason to think we may know the election outcome sooner than in 2019. The Electoral Commission seems to have performed more competently in counting votes this time, and does not have to decide how to implement a complicated formula to allocate party-list seats. This means the joint sitting of parliament should happen faster and a coalition will soon emerge.

But only then will we have any certainty the people’s voices have truly been heard.

Read more:
Thailand at a critical juncture with pro-democracy protesters again set to clash with police

Greg Raymond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Thailand is on the verge of a new democratic spring, but obstacles could stand in the way – https://theconversation.com/thailand-is-on-the-verge-of-a-new-democratic-spring-but-obstacles-could-stand-in-the-way-205207

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Cairns, Lecturer in Pharmacy, University of Sydney

As winter approaches, many parents will be bracing for the cold and flu season. Young children typically get at least six colds a year.

In previous generations, parents might have reached for the cough syrup to relieve a dry or chesty cough.

But we now know cough syrups aren’t very effective at treating children’s coughs.

And amid mounting evidence of harms from poisoning and deaths, many countries including Australia have restricted cough medicines so they can’t be given to children aged under six.

What’s in cough medicine?

Active ingredients in cough syrups vary depending on their claimed benefit. They can contain cough suppressants (dampening the body’s cough reflex), expectorants and mucolytics (both of which help clear phlegm).

Other medicines marketed for cold and flu often contain decongestants (to relieve a blocked nose) and sedating antihistamines to relieve sneezing, stop a runny nose and to aid sleep.

Read more:
Health Check: why do I have a cough and what can I do about it?

The riskiest medications are those with a sedative action, such as sedating antihistamines or opioid-based cough suppressants. While sedation may be a desired effect for parents with a sleepless child, young children are particularly at risk of serious harm or death. Sedatives can also cause agitation and hyperactivity.

While cough syrups that don’t contain sedatives are likely safer, there are very few studies of safety and efficacy of these products in children. Adverse events including agitation and psychosis
have been reported, especially with overuse.

Overuse may result from parents misreading the label, intentionally using more in the hope it will work better, inadvertent extra doses and the use of inaccurate measuring devices such as household spoons.

How are cough syrups restricted?

Young children under two years old are most at risk of a fatal overdose from cough syrups. But Australia’s drug regulator recommends against using cough syrups for anyone under six years of age. As such, there are no dosing instructions for children under six years on the labels of these products.

Cough syrups are still available for older children and adults. Pharmacists are likely to ask the age of the person who will take it and provide guidance on dosing and appropriate use.

Our research, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, shows restricting the use of cough and cold medicines in children results in a significant and sustained decrease in poisonings.

Our study looked at dosing errors, adverse events at correct doses, and accidental “exploratory ingestions”, such as when a toddler helps themselves to the medicine cabinet.

The government mandated labelling changes in 2012 and 2020 for these products. In 2012, labels for medicated cough and cold products could no longer list dosing instructions for children under six, and had to carry additional warnings. In 2020, warnings were put on sedating antihistamines saying they were not to be used in children under two years for any reason (including allergy and hayfever).

This resulted in a halving of the rate of poisons centre calls, and a halving in the rate of hospitalisations. Despite this, hundreds of calls are still made to Australian poisons centres per year regarding these products in young children.

When is it OK to use cough syrups?

Harms have mostly been documented in younger children. This is likely due to their smaller size, meaning it takes less medicine to cause harm, and also their susceptibility to sedative effects due to their developing brains.

Cough syrups can be used for in children aged six to 11 years, however caution is still needed. These products should only be given in consultation with a doctor, pharmacist or nurse practitioner.

Read more:
Health Check: do cough medicines work?

Some herbal products are available and marketed for children, such as Hedera helix (ivy leaf extract). Unfortunately, there is no convincing evidence these medications meaningfully improve cough symptoms. But the risk of poisoning is low.

Simple syrups containing no medication can also be effective: up to 85% of the effectiveness of cough medicines has been put down to the “placebo effect”. This could be due to syrups coating the throat and dampening that irritating tickling sensation.

So what can I do for my kid?

The best thing you can do for your child is give them rest and reassurance.

Antibiotics will only be needed if a doctor diagnoses them with acute bacterial pneumonia or with a chronic cough due to a bacterial infection, such as protracted bacterial bronchitis, whooping cough or a lung abscess.

Paracetamol or ibuprofen can be used if they have fever, aches and pains along with their cough. Check the correct dosage on the packaging for your child’s weight and age.

If your child is older than 12 months and has a wet cough (producing phlegm in their throat), consider giving them honey. There is growing evidence honey can reduce the production of mucus and therefore, the amount of coughing.

Read more:
Still coughing after COVID? Here’s why it happens and what to do about it

Rose Cairns receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, Investigator Grant). She is also the recipient of an untied educational grant from Reckitt to fund a PhD stipend into over-the-counter analgesic research. She has previously recieved honoraria/speaker fees from Reckitt, HealthEd and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia for giving educational presentations on poisoning.

Associate Professor Wheate in the past has received funding from the ACT Cancer Council, Tenovus Scotland, Medical Research Scotland, Scottish Crucible, and the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a member of the Australasian Pharmaceutical Science Association, and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nial is the chief scientific officer of Vairea Skincare LLC, a director of SetDose Pty Ltd a medical device company, and a Standards Australia panel member for sunscreen agents.

– ref. My child has a cough, so what’s wrong with using cough syrup? – https://theconversation.com/my-child-has-a-cough-so-whats-wrong-with-using-cough-syrup-205396

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jess Carniel, Senior Lecturer in Humanities, University of Southern Queensland

In 2022, Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest in a landslide victory. Traditionally, the winner hosts the following year but due to the significant security issues posed by the ongoing war with Russia, Ukraine was unable to host.

As the 2022 runners-up, the United Kingdom stepped in to assist with hosting duties. It was the eighth time Eurovision has not been hosted by the winner, and the fifth time the UK has helped out. It is, however, the first time the contest has not been hosted by the winner due to an active conflict situation.

The production was a collaboration between last year’s Ukrainian winners and the UK hosts, to ensure both were fairly represented throughout. In addition to representation within the show itself – including the genuine co-host chemistry between Ukrainian rock goddess Julia Sanina and British actor Hannah Waddingham – a share of inexpensive tickets were reserved for displaced Ukrainians in the UK.

As per tradition, the grand final opened with the previous winners, Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, performing their winning song. This was followed by the flag parade, which featured past Ukrainian performers, including Go_A (2020-21) and the iconic Verka Serduchka (2007).

The postcards – the short videos used to introduce each performance – connected the co-hosts Ukraine and the UK to their performing guests via similar landmarks found in each country, from beaches to national libraries. In line with the year’s theme, “United by Music”, these sought to illustrate we are united by shared experiences.

The interval act during voting was a medley of songs by Liverpudlian artists, ending with 2019 winner Duncan Laurence performing Gerry and the Pacemakers’ You’ll Never Walk Alone. It, too, aimed to express solidarity with Ukraine.

Read more:
Ukraine’s Eurovision win shows us that despite arguments to the contrary, the contest has always been political

The politics of the non-political contest

The Eurovision Song Contest aims to be non-political. According to reports, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to address the audience was denied by the European Broadcasting Union because it would contravene their policy that the contest not be used for political ends.

(Representatives for Zelensky denied claims he had made the request.)

Politicians have appeared on Eurovision before. Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko presented the winner, Greece, with a special award for “the winning song that unites the whole Europe” when the country first hosted in 2005. Appearances by politicians can never be fully divorced from their political context, but they can be tempered by limiting these to an appearance rather than directly addressing the audience on a political issue.

The Eurovision production didn’t ignore the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but focused on framing it through the more acceptable values-based politics of humanitarianism, empathy and solidarity.

Read more:
Ukraine’s Eurovision win shows us that despite arguments to the contrary, the contest has always been political

But what about the performances?

Austria opened the show with the catchy Who the Hell is Edgar?, a song critiquing gender bias and artist remuneration in the music industry.

Read more:
‘Who the hell is Edgar?’ – a viral Eurovision song about Edgar Allan Poe evokes a strange history of mediums and creative possession

It’s not the first time Austria has sent an act critical of the music industry. Schmetterlinge’s Boom Boom Boomerang in 1977 mocked the commercialisation of the European music industry.

Reigning champions Ukraine placed sixth with Tvorchi’s Heart of Steel, while their co-hosts placed second-last – a reversal of fortunes from last year’s second-place finish.

While the live performance of Mae Muller’s radio-friendly I Wrote A Song didn’t capture votes, the UK garnered a lot of goodwill for the production itself. It shows why Eurovision is still a good cultural (and political) investment for them, win or lose.

In another reversal of fortunes, Norway illustrated the power of the popular vote. Alessandra’s feminist sea shanty, Queen of the Kings, moved from 17th in the jury vote to fifth overall thanks to the audience televote.

This included four points from the rest of the world. For the first time ever, audiences from non-participating countries were able to vote online for their favourite performances. This vote has the same weight as the votes from a single country. Their points – the maximum 12 points – were awarded to Israel.

While this vote isn’t enough to shift the contest’s outcome, it is a welcome recognition of the contest’s global reach and audience. Eurovision is watched by more than 180 million viewers around the world each year.

Finland proved to be a crowd favourite. The arena audience could be heard chanting the chorus throughout the voting. Käärijä’s infectious industrial hyperpop, Cha Cha Cha, narrates escaping the drudgery of everyday life by hitting the dancefloor with a piña colada.

(It was reported anecdotally many Finnish supermarkets sold out of piña colada ingredients this weekend.)

Eurovision powerhouses

Sweden’s victory with Loreen’s Tattoo is record-breaking.

Loreen is now the second person to win Eurovision twice, the first woman to win twice, and the first LGBTQIA+ artist to win twice. She previously won in 2012 with Euphoria, credited with changing the artistic direction of the modern Eurovision.

Sweden now tie with Ireland for the most Eurovision victories, seven. Somewhat auspiciously, the 2024 Eurovision marks the fiftieth anniversary of ABBA’s iconic first win for Sweden in 1974 – again, at a Eurovision hosted by the UK.

Read more:
The ‘gay world cup’: why LGBTQ+ audiences love Eurovision

Australia’s highest ever finish

This year marked another anniversary: the 40th anniversary of the Eurovision broadcast in Australia. It is also the end of Australia’s five-year participation agreement with the European Broadcasting Union.

Western Australian prog-synth band Voyager made a strong case for the continuation with Promise. They placed ninth overall, after winning their semi-final.

Fingers crossed Australia will be getting up at 5am next year to support its artists again.

Jess Carniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Eurovision under the shadow of war: how the 2023 contest highlighted humanitarianism, empathy and solidarity – https://theconversation.com/eurovision-under-the-shadow-of-war-how-the-2023-contest-highlighted-humanitarianism-empathy-and-solidarity-205468

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leon Salter, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation, Massey University

The number of number of people aged 65 years or older living in New Zealand is likely to hit one million by 2028, according to the latest statistics – up from under 300,000 in 1980. Caring for this ageing population will become increasingly important.

Research has shown New Zealanders prefer to retain independence for as long as possible with the help of home-based care. Yet home support workers (HSWs) – those who assist older people, as well as people with disabilities and long-term conditions – have been underpaid and underappreciated for decades.

This is affecting the long-term sustainability of the workforce. According to a 2019 survey, over 35% of care workers were aged 55-64. Only 11% were aged 25-34. In other words, care workers are getting older too.

Partly to address this, care provider companies (predominantly for-profit) are introducing platform technologies – or “care apps”. The rationale is that these empower care workers, create efficiencies for cost-conscious government agencies, and offer autonomy for clients.

It’s been claimed automation in the homecare sector will lower overhead costs and allow for staff pay to increase. Provider companies say it will also streamline the management of timesheets, salary payment, leave applications and access to client notes.

Our research and recently launched report critically interrogates these claims, as well as the broader impact of these platform technologies on the working lives of HSWs, and their resulting ability to provide dignified care.

Rather than support claims of empowerment and efficiency, our interviews and focus groups with HSWs suggest the care apps, as they are currently used, are exacerbating pre-existing systemic failures. These lead to disempowering underpayment, declining professional autonomy and alarming health and safety risks.

Trust and communication

Our interviewees’ experiences describe four broad themes:

Digital frustration: a lack of input into the design of the technology affects not only worker wellbeing, but also the quality of care that can be provided.

For example, one participant described how sudden changes to her roster made through the app disrupt the client trust she has established over time. This affects her ability to provide tailored care based on detailed knowledge of the client’s needs and personal circumstances, as well as contributing to a feeling of having little professional autonomy or control:

Sometimes [the app] doesn’t work that well because suddenly they change your roster. So I can ring my clients I’ve had the night before and say, yep I’m coming, I’ll see you around about 10 o’clock. And then the next day suddenly your roster has changed and that person now is not on your roster.

You now don’t have the phone number, so you can’t ring them to say my roster’s changed, I’m not going to come now, and then they’re gonna get somebody else turn up unexpectedly.

Precarity: care apps add to the already significant burden of unpaid labour, while cementing trends towards deskilling and loss of professional autonomy. One participant described how she had to log into the app four times for a single client. Another described how she would have to phone a call centre and explain if she forgot to log in.

Care workers are paid per client in a piecemeal way. Rather than receiving a salary, they don’t get paid for time spent on these other activities.

Several participants described how the requirement to log in often interrupted their ability to provide client care, taking focus away from often urgent tasks, as well as the skilled work of building a trusting relationship.

Read more:
The coronavirus crisis shows why New Zealand urgently needs a commissioner for older people

Communication inequality: care apps (and smart phones more broadly) mean HSWs are always accessible to employers who can track their location with GPS technology. They can also add, remove and change clients with minimal notice (often causing distress to HSWs and their clients).

Meanwhile, participants described a lack of access to decision-makers, with local offices often having been closed and centralised into call centres. Functions for contacting managers or payroll departments through the app were often broken. As one participant said:

It’s difficult to get through to them […] You’ll ring the call centre, ask them to do something, or you leave a message […] and it just doesn’t happen. These are huge breakdowns in communication.

Health and safety: communication inequality exposes HSWs and their clients to undue risks, made even greater in the context of COVID-19. On top of insecure working conditions during the pandemic and difficulty getting adequate personal protective equipment, HSWs lacked access to up-to-date information about the COVID status of their clients, or access to expert support during medical emergencies.

Read more:
Voiceless and vulnerable, NZ’s gig workers faced more risk with fewer protections during the pandemic

Incorporating workers’ voices

According to the HSWs we interviewed, there is little recognition by their employers of the highly skilled work they do. Their valuable knowledge of the mechanics of providing care in the community has not been incorporated into the design of the care apps.

To ensure the new technology contributes to a sustainable workforce and to high-quality care in future, significant improvements to home care in general must be made.

Currently there are significant concerns about how home care is funded, delivered and accounted for. The lack of professional control, autonomy or trust experienced by workers, as well as the piecemeal pay system, must be addressed as part of the development of care apps if they are to be truly empowering.

This would deliver real improvements for clients and workers. Our evidence suggests that care apps imposed on a workforce without their professional input cannot be a magic bullet that solves the long-term challenges of demographic change and systemic inefficiency.

Read more:
After COVID: why we need a change in care home culture

Protecting the vulnerable

Home care is complex and messy, and things can change from minute to minute. Worker and client voices should be actively incorporated in both the design and evaluation of the technology.

This will protect their interests and ensure the right balance is struck between privacy protection and the provision of up-to-date information on client needs. Any data that are extracted and stored must also uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ensuring the voices of HSWs and their unions inform the technological parameters of their work will help prevent the worsening of their already fragile workplace conditions.

Ultimately, failure to ensure the sustainability of this vital workforce would be a collective failure to care for our most vulnerable people.

Leon Salter receives funding from MBIE/Royal Society.

Lisa Vonk has received a scholarship from the HOPE Foundation for Research on Ageing.

– ref. Home support work in NZ is already insecure and underpaid – automation may only make it worse – https://theconversation.com/home-support-work-in-nz-is-already-insecure-and-underpaid-automation-may-only-make-it-worse-205017

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University

In February this year, the Albanese government announced that thousands of refugees living in Australia who were on Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV) would now be moved onto a permanent visa known as a Resolution of Status Visa (ROS).

When making the announcement, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said this would end the limbo for refugees after they had “endured ten years of uncertainty”.

The change was welcomed by an estimated 20,000 refugees who can move to permanent visas. They are part of a larger group of around 31,000 asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat before January 2014. Known collectively as the “legacy caseload”, their refugee status was subject to a “fast track” process.

Read more:
Changes to temporary protection visas are a welcome development – and they won’t encourage people smugglers

The trauma of uncertainty

The minister’s recognition of the impact of visa uncertainty resonates with recently published research we conducted with lawyers and migration agents who work with this group. They encountered clients in mental health crises, feeling marginalised, defeated and in some cases “lethal hopelessness”.

This research adds to existing evidence about the negative impact of temporary visas on the mental health of asylum seekers. The research goes further and found that years of delays and the process itself contributed to deteriorating mental health.

This research reveals how the government can use a trauma-informed approach to end visa uncertainty and create a shared future.

What is the new procedure for obtaining permanent residence? What are the options for those who do not have a TPV or a SHEV? How can the government end ongoing uncertainty for them?

Resolution of Status Visas

Refugees who currently hold TPVs and SHEVs will be eligible for a permanent Resolution of Status Visa.

Processing is under way and as of late March 2023 100 visas have already been granted. The department predicts most of these visas will be granted within 12 months. Funding to provide legal assistance to refugees is a welcome step towards facilitating a sense of stability and predictability as they await a visa.

Permanent visas will mean refugees can begin the process of family reunion after over a decade of separation. Last year, the government removed policy barriers that meant sponsors who arrived by boat were the lowest priority in the visas queue.

However, processing delays, high visa charges and strict rules around which family can be sponsored to Australia will mean refugees will continue to face ongoing separation from their partners and children.

Read more:
Australia’s temporary visa system is unfair, expensive, impractical and inconsistent. Here’s how the new government could fix it

What happens to those who do not hold a TPV or SHEV?

Giles has stated that the February 13 announcement “includes a pathway for all those in the cohort who are ultimately found to be owed protection”.

Statistics published by the department in February 2023 state there are 9,861 people who have been through the fast-track process and were refused visas. Around 5,000 of those are challenging those refusals in the courts. If successful, their cases will be re-examined by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA). If they are then found to be a refugee, they would be eligible for a Resolution of Status Visa.

Others may seek ministerial intervention. In late 2021, almost 200 people from Afghanistan were waiting for the minister to use his personal discretion to allow them to reapply for protection based on the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The minister also has the discretion to grant visas to individuals who may not meet refugee criteria, but may have Australian citizen partners, children or employers – as already done in the case of the Nadesalingham family.

Flaws in the fast-track process and in particular with the review process of the IAA have been documented previously. Dismantling the “fast track” system was part of the Labor Party platform. But, to date, no announcements have been made and the IAA continues to hear cases.

Reform may come as part of the upcoming overhaul of the administrative review system. What changes, if any, might be made are unclear, but this group of people face ongoing limbo.

Deterioration in mental health is directly linked to treatment

While the minister has declared there is a pathway for all those who are found to be owed protection, there continues to be doubt about what will happen to those whose cases have been refused.

In 2018 and 2019, we surveyed and interviewed lawyers and migration agents who worked directly with clients going through the “fast track” assessment process. They heard stories of overwhelming emotions (for example, despair and anger) as well as witnessing self-harm and suicidal behaviour.

A key driver of people’s mental distress was their inability to apply for a visa for several years. This was followed by a difficult and fast-paced application process in which they were expected to relay their stories of persecution. Many individuals were distressed and destabilised before the process began.

Legal professionals described clients feeling trapped by ongoing visa insecurity and having no control over their future. Family separation combined with uncertainty about their future undermined individuals’ capacity to cope with everyday life and decision-making.

These findings have significant practical implications for how the government handles law reform and policy development with this group. For those who have now found permanency, uncertainty around family reunification will continue to be a significant stressor. There are options to amend laws, policies and processes, which would make them more humane.

Clarity and trauma-informed approaches are essential. For those who do not hold a TPV or SHEV, the Australian government should urgently collaborate with community groups, mental health experts and legal providers to co-design pathways and communication on how their cases will be reviewed and progressed.

A recent High Court decision relating to how the minister’s intervention powers have been exercised will force a review.

The government has an opportunity to amend the guidelines and provide clear guidance for this group, which will allow those who were refused under the “fast track” system to be considered for visas that provide a pathway to certainty.

Mary Anne Kenny has previous received funding from the Australian Research Council and sitting fees from the Department of Home Affairs

Nicholas Procter has previously received grant funding and sitting fees from from Department of Health and Department of Home Affairs.

Carol Grech does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Government must use trauma-informed approach to end uncertainty on refugee visa applications – https://theconversation.com/government-must-use-trauma-informed-approach-to-end-uncertainty-on-refugee-visa-applications-203758

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelsey Chapman, Research Fellow Dignity Project, Griffith University

When the 2022 Australian of the Year was announced, Dylan Alcott wheeled onto the stage. Australian audiences are tuning in to watch TV shows featuring people with disability: You Can’t Ask That, Love on the Spectrum and Employable Me.

The Disability Pride movement is gaining momentum and people with disability are becoming part of the diversity conversation.

On the surface, it would appear we have come a long way in our collective attitudes towards disability. But two of society’s biggest “-isms” still go largely unnoticed and unaddressed: ableism and disablism.

What do these terms mean? And how can we all do better to dismantle them?

Two types of discrimination

Ableism and disablism both refer to types of disability discrimination. The nuance between the two words can cause confusion but are important for acknowledging, detecting, and dismantling the types of barriers people with disability encounter.

Ableism is discrimination that favours “able-bodied” people, or people without disability. Ableism prioritises the needs of people without disability. A building designed without a ramp or a lift for people who require them, a lack of captions for a meeting, and stadiums without low-sensory spaces are all examples of ableism.

Disablism is the inherent belief that people with disability are inferior to those without disability. It is discrimination against people with disability, like those shared in the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Disablism can be a more direct, conscious act of discrimination and abuse. Using disability slurs, ignoring someone, or speaking in a patronising way are common examples.

Read more:
Disability and dignity – 4 things to think about if you want to ‘help’

Ingrained and everywhere

If we are honest, we can acknowledge ableism and disablism are ubiquitous in our language, our homes, children’s stories, media, at work and in our daily social interactions. Indeed, ableism and disablism can be so ingrained in our daily lives that most people are unaware of them.

Both forms of discrimination can be subtle and insidious, making them difficult to detect and address. They often operate at systemic levels and are not identified as discrimination.

A good example of systemic ableism is the forced segregation of people with disability into “special” schools or “sheltered” workplaces through limited choice and structural support of these options. Although the process of forcing people into these options no longer occurs in such blatantly disrespectful ways, the result is the same.

Ableist and disablist attitudes are frequently encountered in daily conversation. Subtle ableism manifests in the use of well-intended “empathetic” comments, like “I can’t imagine losing my eyesight. That would be the worst.” These remarks, even when intended to prompt a connection between two people, reveal deep-seated beliefs and create a greater divide.

People with disability, along with other marginalised communities, categorise these types of interactions as “microaggressions”.

Disablist attitudes are more overt. Comments like “If you are unable to walk down the ramp then you shouldn’t have gotten tickets to this concert” demonstrate the low expectations and damaging beliefs that impact on people’s opportunities for education, employment and social interaction.

Read more:
What are microaggressions? And how can they affect our health?

Challenging but worth it

Combating disablism and ableism is a great challenge but one that is worthwhile. A broad spectrum of challenges is at play: confronting and disrupting the status quo, valuing diverse types of knowledge and experience and acknowledging the unconscious biases we all have.

At a systemic and societal level, the way we design and deliver systems, polices, virtual and physical environments, products and experiences need to be co-designed in partnership with people with disability – or better yet, through disability-led initiatives.

Generating new ideas and better ways of working will contribute to improvements in daily life for all people – just like ramps benefit parents pushing prams and people using mobility aids.

The emphasis on co-design and engagement with people with disability is increasingly prevalent. However, it is critical to conduct co-design in ways that are not tokenistic and don’t merely validate current practice. Frameworks like the Dignity Project Framework, which includes principles of importance for engaging with people with disability, can better support a dignified process of co-design and citizen partnership.

‘Not yet disabled’

At an individual level, we all have a part to play in creating an inclusive future.

Disability has been called the world’s largest minority and is a group any person can join at any time in their life.

The late disability rights activist Judith Heumann preferred to use the term “not yet disabled” to emphasise that we will all experience impairment and disability at some stage. Thus, we may all confront ableism and disablism at some point. The way to prepare for that time is to actively acknowledge and challenge personal biases, learn about and advocate for accessibility and inclusion in the spaces where you live, work and play and amplify the voices of people with disability at every opportunity.

As advocate Sinead Burke from Tilting the Lens says in British Vogue’s May issue,

Accessibility and disability inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and opportunity. This is a movement, not a moment. And it involves all of us.

Read more:
Inclusion means everyone: 5 disability attitude shifts to end violence, abuse and neglect

Angel Dixon is affiliated with Attitude Foundation.

Elizabeth Kendall, Katie Kelly, and Kelsey Chapman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Ableism and disablism – how to spot them and how we can all do better – https://theconversation.com/ableism-and-disablism-how-to-spot-them-and-how-we-can-all-do-better-204541

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jayden Engert, PhD Candidate, James Cook University

Australia is a world leader in land clearing and species extinctions. Tree-planting programs are among the restoration measures needed to bring threatened species back from the brink. But do these programs always work?

Our new research set out to answer that question, by examining the much-touted 20 Million Trees program. It began under the Rudd Labor government in 2014 and was continued by successive governments.

The program aimed to improve native vegetation, support a richness of plant and animal species and reduce greenhouse gases.

Our research, however, found funding decisions were largely driven by simplistic “value for money” considerations such as the cost of each tree. This undermined the benefits for both threatened species and the climate.

What was the 20 Million Trees program?

Australia has experienced the greatest biodiversity decline of any country in the past 200 years, driven largely by land clearing for agriculture. Many of Australia’s 2,000 threatened species and communities will become extinct unless their habitat is restored.

What’s more, vegetation stores carbon from the atmosphere, so restoring native plant communities is important for tackling climate change.

With this in mind, the Rudd government established a A$62 million tree-planting program in 2014. As the name suggests, it aimed to plant 20 million trees by 2020. The program was administered by the then Department of the Environment and Energy.

The program has now ended. More than 29.5 million trees were planted across 30,000 hectares.

Groups including restoration practitioners, community groups and landholders were paid to plant trees under the scheme. Contracts were awarded through a variety of means, including $13 million in competitive grants. These grants delivered the most individual projects, and led to three million trees planted across about 8,000 hectares.

A significant percentage of the funds allocated to threatened species recovery in 2014 and 2015 was directed to the 20 Million Trees program. So it was vital the program delivered real benefits for threatened species.

Read more:
Australia could ‘green’ its degraded landscapes for just 6% of what we spend on defence

‘Cost per tree’ measures are fraught

Our research investigated what projects were most likely to be funded by the program’s competitive grants, and whether these projects delivered real benefits to threatened species.

We started by examining the project outlines prepared by applicants for all 169 successful and 698 unsuccessful applications.

Projects were more likely to be funded when the cost per tree was less than A$5. Projects with a tree cost of more than A$10 were almost never funded.

Allocating funding based on “cost per tree” is fraught. The cost to produce a seedling depends on factors such as the cost of obtaining seeds, germination times, and growth and mortality rates. Seedlings of woodland eucalypts may cost a couple of dollars to produce, while some tropical rainforest trees can cost about $14 per seedling.

Tree species may also differ in their value to the broader ecosystem, such as their ability to provide food or shelter for threatened animals.

Forcing groups to bid low to win funding may also lead to cutting corners. This may include planting fewer tree species and minimising essential maintenance such as weeding and watering. Focusing on how many trees survived, rather than were planted, would lead to better environmental outcomes.

Dudding our threatened species

Grant applications were also substantially more likely to be funded when they included the names of threatened species in the project summaries. Despite this, projects in areas supporting many threatened species were less likely to be funded.

Tree-planting projects occurred in the habitat of 769 threatened species. Of these, just nine benefited from projects covering more than 1% their range. Many projects capable of delivering more substantial benefits to threatened species were not funded.

The majority of Australia’s threatened plants and animals, or 1,302 species, received no habitat restoration under the program. But if different projects were selected for funding, habitat for about 400 of these species could have been restored.

Read more:
This is Australia’s most important report on the environment’s deteriorating health. We present its grim findings

Cost considerations were also given far more weight in funding decisions than a project’s carbon-storing potential. Projects in areas with high potential were not more likely to be funded than those in areas with low to intermediate potential.

This contradicted grant guidelines, which stipulated that alignment with program objectives – including environmental conservation and carbon reduction – be given a higher weighting than value for money.

Our conclusion was corroborated by the Australia National Audit Office in its 2016 report into the 20 Million Trees program. It found the program was appropriately designed, but assessment methods were not adhered to and eligibility assessments were not conducted transparently.

In its response to that report, the department said it was “committed to continuous business improvement to ensure that grants administration is to best-practice standard”, adding it would address the report’s recommendations.

New measures of success

Our research suggests simplistic measures of success are inappropriate when it comes to environmental restoration. It can lead to perverse outcomes that don’t benefit the threatened species for which funding was intended.

We found different funding criteria would have led to much larger gains for threatened species. Value for money, for example, should be calculated as the cost per area of threatened species habitat. Funding should also be prioritised for species that have lost the most habitat.

Nature restoration programs are vital to reversing Australia’s biodiversity crisis. But if they’re not done right, we risk squandering precious conservation dollars and pushing our unique plants and animals further towards extinction.

Read more:
Human progress is no excuse to destroy nature. A push to make ‘ecocide’ a global crime must recognise this fundamental truth

Jayden Engert is a member of the Society for Conservation Biology Oceania and a member of the Ecological Society of Australia.

Susan Laurance receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. Program to plant 20 million trees prioritised cost-saving over gains for nature, research finds – https://theconversation.com/program-to-plant-20-million-trees-prioritised-cost-saving-over-gains-for-nature-research-finds-205302

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Hoang, Research Officer, Victoria University

This article is part of our series on big ideas for the Universities Accord. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, and set it up for the next decade and beyond”. A review team is due to finish a draft report in June and a final report in December 2023.

One of the key reasons for doing a a doctoral research degree or PhD is to pursue an academic career. But this dream is becoming increasingly far-fetched, due to a decline in academic positions and a steady increase in Australians undertaking PhDs.

The number of PhD completions has been steadily growing over the past two decades, from about 4,000 to about 10,000 per year.

According to our calculations* based on the information available, the cumulative number of people in Australia with a PhD has increased from about 135,000 in 2016 to about 185,000 in 2021.

But the number of academic positions has shrunk. Australia saw a significant decrease in academic staff from 54,086 in 2016 to 46,971 in 2021 as universities cut costs during the pandemic.

As the Universities Accord review examines how our higher education system needs to work, we need to rethink who is doing a PhD and how their degrees are structured.

Why has the number of PhDs grown?

There are plenty of incentives to keep PhD candidates coming through the system. Some federal government funding to universities is based on research degree completions. PhDs are also free for domestic students.

On top of this, universities put pressure on academic staff to supervise successful PhD students. This is used as one of the criteria for promotions.

Where do PhD graduates go?

There is no official data on how many PhD graduates go on to work in academia. About 25% of PhD graduates got some employment in academia according to a small-scale survey in 2011.

Our estimates suggest this figure has not changed much as of 2021.
If there are about 185,000 people with a PhD, this is four times higher than the number of available academic positions (46,971).

We also know some PhD students struggle to get work outside of academia, despite the prestigious nature of their qualifications.

The 2022 Graduate Outcomes Survey found 84.7% of research degree graduates (which includes masters degrees by research as well as PhDs) were in full-time employment within six months of completing their studies. This compares with 78.5% of undergraduates.

Read more:
Australian unis could not function without casual staff: it is time to treat them as ‘real’ employees

Where do PhDs want to work?

It is true not all PhD candidates and graduates want an academic career.

A 2019 national survey found 51% of all PhD students surveyed wanted to find a job in business or the public sector.

But here, students’ field of study makes a big difference.

Two-thirds of PhD students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and maths) were hoping to work in industry. The banking, civil engineering, mining, energy and medical/pharmaceutical sectors are the top employers of PhD graduates.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of PhD students in social sciences (including history, politics, education, sociology, psychology, economics, and anthropology) wanted to stay in academia.

Read more:
Why arts degrees and other generalist programs are the future of Australian higher education

Our study

To understand how people with social sciences PhDs navigate employment, we conducted 23 in-depth interviews with doctoral graduates from five Australian universities. All interviewees graduated less than five years before the interviews.

Our research uncovered two distinct themes.

1. A stable academic job is almost impossible to find

Of the group, only one had gained a continuing academic position within five years of graduation. Thirteen were on precarious contracts (either casual or fixed-term) while three were doing a “postdoc” or research fellowship (which are also often a fixed-term contract). Six worked in either the private sector or government.

As one interviewee told us:

[PhD candidates should] put aside the assumption that […] because you’ve got a PhD, you will automatically get a job. That’s not the case. There are many many many PhDs out there who cannot find work or are working in what we call menial jobs or ‘survivor’ jobs.

Another emphasised the insecure nature of working in academia:

I’ve been working as a sessional [employed on contracts per semester] in higher education, basically full-time on a million contracts.

Some participants moved in and out of academia while holding a slim hope of finding a continuing position:

If I don’t get an academic job within one year or two years, then it’s kind of over for me […].

2. There is not enough career support or preparation

While ongoing academic jobs were very difficult to obtain, PhD graduates said they were not well-prepared for the labour market outside academia.

There is a sharp contrast between university and non-university occupations in terms of workplace cultures and employer expectations. For example, industry employers want skills needed for work rather than qualifications or publications. PhD graduates moving out of academia have had to re-train themselves.

As one participant told us:

They were less impressed by the publications. They were more interested in the skills that I got. […] So I did some online data courses [like] LinkedIn courses, and then I tried to apply for some jobs with these skills and in this direction.

Another participant said they had to hide their doctoral degree for fear of being seen as overqualified. Meanwhile, meaningful career advice was thin on the ground.

[My university] didn’t actually do anything to support me in getting my job.

Read more:
‘Very few companies are open for international students’: South Asian graduates say they need specific support to find jobs

How to rethink doctoral education

The diverse and insecure employment outcomes of the PhD graduates in our study strongly point to a need for universities to rethink how they educate PhD students.

Firstly, this includes offering specific career education as part of PhD programs. This may require universities to be upfront about the employment prospects for PhD graduates and research funding climate.

Career consultations from both universities’ career centres and industry experts should be offered early in PhD programs to help students make informed decisions about future options. For those who would like to pursue a traditional academic career, it is important to have ongoing career guidance from their supervisors and research offices.

Secondly, there needs to be more structured work experience. Universities should strengthen their partnerships with industry to facilitate work experience. Those seeking academic jobs also need to be provided with meaningful opportunities to work alongside academic staff in both teaching activities and research projects.

Thirdly, universities need to ensure doctoral programs better prepare students for employment possibilities inside and outside academia.

This includes opportunities to build transferable skills such as teamwork, communication, analytical skills, and leadership.

This specifically needs to include teaching students how to write and speak for different audiences beyond academia, including policymakers and the public.

This needs to include admissions

Lastly, we also need to take a hard look at PhD admissions. There is currently no limit on PhD numbers and the more admissions universities have, the more funding they will earn when students graduate.

To balance supply and demand, the government should consider quotas for funding PhD students in each field. This would also help select the most suitable PhD candidates, who are most likely to benefit from the rigours of doctoral study.

This may not be a popular move – but we have be more realistic about whether accepting more and more people into three-plus years of intense study is benefiting the students, or simply generating funds for universities.

*These figures have been adjusted for life expectancy and overseas PhD graduates returning to their home country.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Australia has way more PhD graduates than academic jobs. Here’s how to rethink doctoral degrees – https://theconversation.com/australia-has-way-more-phd-graduates-than-academic-jobs-heres-how-to-rethink-doctoral-degrees-203057

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Warren, Associate Professor, College of Business and Economics, Australian National University

Australia’s superannuation funds are getting bigger – and fewer. There were close to 400 funds in 2010. With mergers, it’s now closer to 120. By 2025, according to industry executives surveyed last year, there will be fewer than 50.

The portfolios of the two biggest super funds, AustralianSuper and Australian Retirement Trust, are bigger than even the federal government’s Future Fund Management Agency, which oversees the A$194 billion Future Fund and several other funds worth a total $242 billion.

Underpinning this consolidation is the idea that larger scale is beneficial for superannuation fund members. But that’s not necessarily true. A bigger fund is no guarantee of better returns.

I’ve examined the issue of fund scale with Scott Lawrence, an investment manager with 35 year’s industry experience. Together we’ve written a report for the Conexus Institute, an independent research centre focused on superannuation issues.

Our conclusion: funds, large and small alike, succeed or fail depending on how well they formulate and execute their strategies.

Managing assets in-house

The first potential benefit of bigger size is that funds can manage assets using their own dedicated investment professionals, rather than outsourcing everything to external investment managers to invest on their behalf.

For example, UniSuper (the higher education industry fund) manages 70% of assets in-house. AustralianSuper, with more than double UniSuper’s assets, manages 53% of assets in-house.

This can be cheaper than paying fees as a percentage of assets to these external providers. It offers more control as the super fund can decide the assets in which they invest, rather than leaving the decision to someone else.

But fund members will only benefit if the internal team makes investment decisions that are as good as the service they are replacing. For this reason, there is no reliable correlation between performance and degree of in-house management.

Investing in big-ticket items

The second potential benefit is it becomes more possible to become successful direct investors in “big ticket” assets such as infrastructure and property, instead of just focusing on shares and other assets traded on stock exchanges.

For example, AustralianSuper owns 20.5% of WestConnex, Australia’s biggest infracture project, having contributed $4.2 billion to the consortium that is building the mostly underground toll-road system linking western Sydney motorways.

Opportunities like this are easier to access by large funds, and can help to diversify their portfolios.

But such direct investment is costlier than buying shares and bonds. This limits the potential for fee reductions.

For members to benefit, these investments must deliver attractive returns. This requires a fund developing capability in what are specialised markets. Size alone won’t deliver on its own.

Read more:
How do I find out what my superannuation fund invests in? A finance expert explains

Economies of scale and scope

The third potential benefit is that size brings economies of scale and scope.

Scale can reduce fees, by spreading the fund’s fixed costs over a larger member base.

Our review of the research literature confirms there are solid reasons to expect administration costs to reduce with size, as well as in-house management reducing investment costs.

Economies of scope involve an organisation being able to improve or increase services, say by investing in better systems and more staff.

But investing in better systems also brings potential pitfalls. Big visionary projects tend to run over time and over budget, and sometimes fail.

An example is the disastrous attempts of five industry funds (AustralianSuper, Cbus Super, HESTA, Hostplus and MTAA Super) to develop a shared administration platform, called Superpartners. It was meant to cost $70 million, but development costs blew out to $250 million before they gave up.

Read more:
Should I put more money into my super? What are the benefits and can I take it out before retirement if I need it?

Size brings its own challenges

Large funds also face some unique challenges. Because they have more money to invest, they have more work to do in finding sufficient attractive assets to buy.

The risk is they need to accept some assets offering low returns to do so. They can also outgrow some market segments, such as owning shares in smaller companies.

Large organisations are typically more complex, more bureaucratic and less flexible. They can find it difficult to coordinate staff to work towards a common purpose. These elements may create dysfunction if not managed.

This may explain why, despite the potential increased scope of their offerings, surveys suggest large funds tend to deliver less personalised service.

So the idea “bigger is better” is not necessarily true. Large size is not an automatic win. Whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and challenges ultimately depends on fund trustees and management doing their jobs well so that members benefit.

Read more:
How to choose a financial adviser: 6 expert tips to find the best one for you

Geoff Warren is research director of the Conexus Institute, a not-for-profit research organisation that assisted in sponsoring this research, which was conducted with Scott Lawrence of Lawrence Investment Consulting.

– ref. Are bigger super funds better? Actually no, despite what the industry is doing – https://theconversation.com/are-bigger-super-funds-better-actually-no-despite-what-the-industry-is-doing-203417

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Toffoletti, Associate Professor of Sociology, Deakin University

The “Cost of Beauty”, a short video recently released by global beauty brand Dove, highlights the damaging effects of social media on young womens’ body image and self esteem. It forms part of a wider campaign that raises awareness about the devastating effects of social media on young women’s mental and physical health.

It is clear social media can negatively affect women’s relationships with their bodies, but our recent research revealed a more complex and nuanced picture.

More than a decade of research has shown that unrealistic beauty standards, the rise of “fitspiration”, body shaming and online gender-based violence, are having a significant impact on young women.

That said, social media users are not naive about the toxic beauty ideals being promoted across digital platforms.

Our research found that women were very aware of the risks and vulnerabilities associated with using social media. And women were developing habits and online communities to counter these negative elements.

Read more:
Women can build positive body image by controlling what they view on social media

We focused on the emergence of “#fitspo” (short for “fitspiration”) content – think rippling six pack, sweaty sports bra, and smiling face mid-workout.

Despite being seemingly health positive, one of the consequences of fitspiration is that women now experience pressures to be both thin and fit. Increasingly, many women and girls actively avoid these online spaces, while others find support, inspiration and even care in these online communities.

Instagram’s potential as a positive space

In our work with exercising women who use Instagram, we found many everyday examples of how they thoughtfully navigated online spaces to reduce risk and minimise harm to themselves and others.

For instance, when confronted with unrealistic body standards, women were making active choices to strategically curate their social media worlds by blocking, unfollowing – also known as “pruning” – content they found unhealthy or unrelatable. They also increasingly blocked and reported followers who are offering unsolicited advice and negative or sexualised comments.

Read more:
Why social media ‘fitspiration’ can fail: Weight-inclusive fitness posts are more likely to motivate young women to exercise

To challenge the pressures enhanced images can bring, many women chose to represent their “real”, “raw” and imperfect bodies without editing out stretch marks or body fat. Some women promoted this practice by using hashtags such as #filterfreefriday or #noedit.

Women also made choices about how they engaged with other bodies online. Body shaming is rife on social media. But in many exercising communities women avoided posting comments that could make other women feel self-conscious or negative about their bodies.

Making comments about someone’s image could be seen to contribute to body surveillance. So, participants in our research explained that they focused on how women were looking strong or confident, or celebrated their efforts and achievements in a sport. Knowing how it felt to have one’s body judged online prompted women to avoid judging others.

The power of connection

Social connection was also an important feature for women and girls using social media.

We found that for many women, their motivations for sharing images of themselves online were not simply about “showing off” their bodies or promoting themselves. Instead, they were trying to build safe online communities to seek validation and support. Posting pictures of their unfiltered bodies pursuing their sport and fitness goals was one of the ways they built a collective online presence.

Social media was also important for women to promote their offline communities, relationships and skills, not just how they looked. This was particularly important during the pandemic, with fitness professionals using digital technologies to support their movement communities during challenging times.

Read more:
Want to be a social media influencer? You might want to think again

Importantly, women from diverse social, cultural and religious backgrounds experienced both the same and different sets of risks (such as racist and sexist trolling or body shaming) when using social media.

Scholars have identified the ways Muslim sportswomen have navigated such risks, carefully considering gender, religion and culture in managing their accounts, their audiences, and taking time to consider the types of images and text they share.

Researchers in Turkey have also revealed the potential in such imagery for challenging racialised and patriarchal norms and expectations of women’s bodies in sport and fitness.

Minimising the harm of social media

Whether we intend it to or not, posting about our bodies online and in public makes us vulnerable.

Our findings suggests that we need alternative ways of thinking about women and girls’ social media usage, where the risks and vulnerabilities of social media use become the basis for a more nuanced way of understanding how participation on social media can affect our lives.

Paying attention to women’s efforts to minimise harm through their own everyday actions on social media is an important first step towards cultivating social media encounters that account for broader impacts of what we post, based on care, consideration and respect.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. We have all heard social media can impact women’s body image – but it isn’t all bad – https://theconversation.com/we-have-all-heard-social-media-can-impact-womens-body-image-but-it-isnt-all-bad-205214

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas R Patton, Postdoctoral Researcher, Integrated Terrain Analysis Program, Desert Research Institute

Sand dunes are not an obvious place to find high-quality fire records. For a start, anyone who walks on the forested sand dunes of South-East Queensland will be impressed by the intensity of ant activity at their feet. The ant nests extend at least 2 metres below the surface. As the ants move materials around their nests, any charcoal from past fires that’s preserved in the sand would be severely disturbed.

Somewhat surprisingly, though, soil pits dug at the bottom of the slope of dune front walls (the leading edge of a dune) revealed different sediment layers are preserved there. This shows ant activity is not intense on the foot slopes. It’s possible for undisturbed charcoal records to be recovered from this part of the dune.

Our newly published research focuses on four well-dated sand dunes. Unlike previous studies that extracted fire histories from sediment cores from lakes, bogs and other organic sediments, we extracted fire records from these dunes. We believe this is a breakthrough that will greatly expand the areas for which we can extract fire histories.

Swamps and lakes are typically found in more humid areas and near the coast, whereas sand dunes occur widely across drier areas of Australia, including desert regions. This new source of fire histories can help us broaden our understanding of fire in Australia.

Read more:
In a bad fire year, Australia records over 450,000 hotspots. These maps show where the risks have increased over 20 years

Why does a new source of fire records matter?

Fire is important in the Australian landscape. Many ecosystems are designed not only to survive fire but need burns to survive and thrive.

In recent years, however, the scale and intensity of bushfires in Australia have increased, culminating in the Black Summer of 2019-20. During that summer, areas that did not normally burn severely were intensely burned. The fires caused long-lasting damage to vegetation and significant loss of both human and animal life and buildings.

There are concerns that if the climate patterns associated with the Black Summer fires become more established, Australia’s ecology could be permanently altered and human activities severely impacted in many regions.

Read more:
200 experts dissected the Black Summer bushfires in unprecedented detail. Here are 6 lessons to heed

There is an urgent need to better understand the role of fire in the Australian landscape, prompting a surge in research on both modern fire behaviour and extracting fire histories from the landscape. These histories are crucial, because they can help us to identify and quantify the risk of fires. These studies can also highlight where climate and ecological changes have created new fire risk.

Scientists have until now relied on cores from lakes, bogs and other sources of organic sediments to extract fire histories. The gradual accumulation of these sediments preserves charcoal from past fires in layers. The layers can be dated, revealing the age of the charcoal and hence when the fire occurred. This means we can extract continuous records of past fire regimes from these sediments.

However, because of the focus on organic-rich sediments, these fire histories have been limited to humid areas, where swamps and lakes are present. Sediments like these are mostly close to the coast. Fire hazard is much more widely spread in Australia.

Read more:
1,600 years ago, climate change hit the Australian Alps. We studied ancient lake mud to learn what happened

So what did the dune study find?

Our study focuses on the fire history of the Cooloola Sand Mass between Noosa and Tin Can Bay in South-East Queensland. We examined four well-dated sand dunes ranging from 500 to 10,000 years old.

In a 2022 study, we showed there are two distinct phases in the sediment records. These match a historic change in slope processes on the dunes.

For the first 1,000 years after the dunes stabilised, frequent but minor flows of sand grains down the front face of the dune slowly built up sediments at the foot of the dune. The sand deposited at the base includes the remnants of charcoal from local fires that deposited on the dune’s surface. This sediment builds up over time, preserving layers of charcoal from fires.

The distinct layers of charcoal in the sand represent individual fire events. These charcoal layers can be reliably identified using radiocarbon dating.

Read more:
A dive into the deep past reveals Indigenous burning helped suppress bushfires 10,000 years ago

After about 1,000 years, the dune slopes became less steep. Slow soil creep, which is the gradual grain-by-grain movement of sand through the ground under gravity, became the dominant process. Charcoal is dispersed through the sediments. This means individual fires cannot be recognised but overall fire activity is still well recorded.

We compared the fire records from the sand dunes to local and regional fire histories. The records from the dunes matched the other records. Our records show a relationship between fire and stronger El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) periods – associated with more frequent drought conditions – in South-East Queensland.

There are very few fire histories from dryland regions worldwide. And, like Australia, extreme fires are increasing in these regions, which include California and Mediterranean Europe. We should now be able to better define natural fire hazard in these arid zones.

Nicholas R Patton has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council and from the National Science Foundation (USA).

James Shulmeister receives funding from the Australian Research Council and from the Marsden Fund in New Zealand. The work discussed here is from an ARC Discovery grant. He has also previously received support through the National Science Foundation (USA) and the National Science Foundation of China and many other grant providers.

– ref. A new source of fire records, hidden in the sands, gives us a bigger picture of the risks – https://theconversation.com/a-new-source-of-fire-records-hidden-in-the-sands-gives-us-a-bigger-picture-of-the-risks-205558

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, Professor, Biological Sciences Department, University of Cape Town

Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.

By analysing the various features of fossil bones we can reveal not only the overall size and shape of the animal, but also what kind of movement the animal was capable of, its lifestyle, and the environment in which it lived.

But what if we looked inside fossil bones? What secrets would it reveal about the growth and development of an extinct animal? In a newly published paper in the Journal of Paleontology, we have done just that, using 15 million-year-old skeletons of a giant bear-like marsupial from the world-famous Riversleigh World Heritage Area (Boodjamulla) in Waanyi country of northwest Queensland.

Read more:
Fossils reveal Australia’s tree-top heavyweight herbivore

Tree-dwelling wombat relatives

The huge tree-dwelling herbivorous marsupials, known as Nimbadon, weighed about 70kg, making them the largest arboreal (tree dwelling) mammals known from Australia.

Nimbadon belongs to a diverse group of long extinct, large-bodied marsupials known as diprotodontoids, the likes of which include the largest marsupial to have ever lived, the 2.5 tonne megafaunal Diprotodon, and bizarre trunked marsupials reminiscent of modern-day tapirs.

Among living animals, Nimbadon is most closely related to wombats. Yet surprisingly, in terms of body size and lifestyle, they are more comparable to sun bears, which today can be found scaling the rainforest canopies of Southeast Asia.

When we first uncovered jawbones of Nimbadon at Riversleigh in 1993, we thought we were looking at very large leaf-eating marsupials who foraged for food on the forest floor.

But like many of the species we’ve unearthed from Riversleigh, the closer we look at these animals, the more bizarre and fascinating they become.

Nimbadon is now known from its complete skeleton, including material representing developmental ages ranging from tiny pouch-young to mature adults. It had strong arms with very mobile shoulder and elbow joints. Its hands and feet had specially adapted opposable thumbs with huge curved claws for climbing, penetrating bark and grasping branches.

These animals were highly specialised climbers and lived vastly different lifestyles compared to their closest living relatives – the land-dwelling, burrowing wombats.

Our initial research showed that Nimbadon was not only a “tree-hugger”, but also a “tree-hanger”, spending some of its time suspended from tree branches like a sloth.

Nimbadon lived 15 million years ago in the canopy of lowland Australian rainforests. These biodiverse, lush forests were home to some equally strange animals: flesh-eating kangaroos, tree-climbing crocodiles, ancestral thylacines, cat- to leopard-sized marsupial lions, huge anaconda-like snakes, giant toothed platypuses and mysterious marsupials so strange they have been called “Thingodonta”. It was a very different Australia than the one we see today.

Read more:
Meet the giant wombat relative that scratched out a living in Australia 25 million years ago

Sectioning the bones

Despite the wealth of information we have gleaned from Nimbadon skeletons, until now we hadn’t fully understood the growth patterns of these ancient marsupials.

Were they affected by seasonality? How long did they take to grow to adult body size in the canopies of the ancient forest? Clues to these questions lay in the bones’ microscopic structure.

To look inside the fossil bones, we needed to select the right material. Long bones, such as the bones of the leg, are known to preserve a good record of growth, so we analysed ten long bones of several different-sized individuals.

We began by removing a section from the shaft of the bone, and embedded it in resin. Using a diamond-edged blade, we cut our samples into thin sections and polished them further until light could pass through them. These thinned sections were mounted on glass microscope slides to be studied.

Remarkably, even after millions of years of fossilisation, the microscopic structure of the fossil bones had remained intact. We were amazed to discover that Nimbadon grew in periodic spurts. Individuals had fast growth periods, each followed by a slow growth period, often associated with a band of arrested growth.

Seasonal growers

Cyclical growth patterns have previously been documented for marsupials such as in the living western grey kangaroo. However, our results indicate that, overall, the limbs of Nimbadon had a much slower, more extenuated growth than kangaroo limbs.

One individual recorded at least seven to eight growth cycles, which suggests this arboreal giant needed at least this amount of time – and probably more – to become a fully-grown, sexually mature adult.

Based on these alternating cycles of fast and slow growth, Nimbadon may have been affected by seasonal conditions such as food availability. However, exactly how long it took for eight growth cycles to develop remains a mystery. If indeed they represent annual cycles, it would be at least eight years until sexual maturity, which is unusual in the modern marsupial world.

For example, kangaroos are sexually mature at one to two years. That being said, Nimbadon is an unusual beast and a very large one at that, so an extended developmental period (and lifespan) is not unlikely.

Real-life drop bears

We have come to think about these strange arboreal marsupials as real versions of the legendary “drop bears” of Australian folklore – mysterious tree-dwelling creatures that would drop down on unsuspecting animals below.

While moving in herds through the rainforest canopy, both young and adult Nimbadon would have occasionally lost their grip before dropping down from the treetops. Sometimes they would end up in forest floor caves, which is where we have been finding their still-articulated skeletons.

Given the constant surprises that research into this extraordinary, extinct Riversleigh mammal has already produced, we are eager and prepared for still more.

Currently we are looking into wear in the enamel microstructure of Nimbadon’s teeth to determine this legendary drop bear’s diet. We expect that what we find down the track will continue to upend our naïve first presumptions about the lifestyles of this and many of the other strange inhabitants of the ancient inland rainforests of Riversleigh.

Anusuya Chinsamy-Turanis is based at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and receives funding from National Research Foundation, South Africa, grant number, 136510.

Karen Black receives funding for the work at Riversleigh and preparation of the fossils in the University of New South Wales has in the main been provided by the Australian Research Council Discovery and Linkage Grants, as well as funding provided by the Phil Creaser CREATE Fund in UNSW, a grant from the National Geographic Society and donations from private individuals including Ken & Margaret Pettit, Doug & Anne Jeanes and Gary Johnston.

Mike Archer received funding for the work at Riversleigh and preparation of the fossils in the University of New South Wales mainly from the Australian Research Council Discovery and Linkage Grants, as well as funding provided by the Phil Creaser CREATE Fund in UNSW, a grant from the National Geographic Society and donations from private individuals including Ken & Margaret Pettit, Doug & Anne Jeanes and Gary Johnston.

Sue Hand received funding for the work at Riversleigh and preparation of the fossils in the University of New South Wales mainly from the Australian Research Council Discovery and Linkage Grants, as well as funding provided by the Phil Creaser CREATE Fund in UNSW, a grant from the National Geographic Society and donations from private individuals including Ken & Margaret Pettit, Doug & Anne Jeanes and Gary Johnston.

– ref. These giant ‘drop bears’ with opposable thumbs once scaled trees in Australia. But how did they grow so huge? – https://theconversation.com/these-giant-drop-bears-with-opposable-thumbs-once-scaled-trees-in-australia-but-how-did-they-grow-so-huge-205117

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renee Carey, Senior Research Fellow, Curtin University

Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook overwhelmingly show vaping in a positive light. This messaging makes it seem that e-cigarette use is common and socially accepted.

Traditional tobacco advertising has been banned in Australia for decades. However, e-cigarettes are widely promoted on social media, undoing some of the positive work of previous decades.

Most platforms have content policies that expressly prohibit the promotion of tobacco product use, including e-cigarettes. But our new research, published this week, shows these policies are routinely violated with little or no consequences.

Read more:
Vaping is glamourised on social media, putting youth in harm’s way

Positive videos result in more vaping

E-cigarette use by young people, including in Australia, is rapidly growing. So is evidence of the harmful health effects of e-cigarettes.

Positive social media messages around vaping may particularly impact young people, who are the most frequent users of social media. In some cases, these messages have even been shown to blatantly target teens.

Research shows young people who view social media posts featuring e-cigarettes are more likely to vape and to view e-cigarettes positively. This is true of both e-cigarette advertising and user-generated content, with creators effectively doing the marketing job for e-cigarette companies.

TikTok emphasises tricks and downplays harms

In our recently published study, we looked at the ways e-cigarettes are being advertised and promoted on TikTok. We analysed 264 English language user-generated e-cigarette videos and evaluated them against TikTok’s own content policy in February 2022.

We found most of the videos (98%) portrayed e-cigarettes positively.

More than one-quarter of the videos clearly violated TikTok’s content policy and promoted vaping products for purchase.

Few videos contained health warnings. Only 2% of posts referenced vape or nicotine addiction.

A small number of posts referred to public health professionals or commented on e-cigarette regulation. These posts were comparatively less popular, receiving a smaller proportion of views and likes.

Half the videos referred to a vaping community. These posts were slightly more popular than those that didn’t refer to a shared identity. This may act to shape norms around e-cigarette use and increase the perception that vaping is socially accepted.

Popular posts also included references to vape tricks (such as creating shapes from exhaled aerosol), with early research showing adolescents often identified vaping tricks as the reason they started using e-cigarettes. Posts also used humour, which is an effective tool to reach young social media users.

Videos that violated content policy often provided details on how and where to purchase e-cigarette products. This included providing links to online retailers and to other social media accounts.

The promotion of offers such as giveaways and sale prices were common, in direct violation of content policy. Many posts also provided product reviews.

Read more:
Vaping and behaviour in schools: what does the research tell us?

So what needs to happen?

We can’t rely on platforms to develop and enforce content policy. Social media policies are commonly violated and there are no major consequences – the platforms themselves decide the consequences for breaches.

This is a problem because social media platforms have a clear financial incentive not to punish people who breach their policies.

The federal government’s recent strong position to stamp out recreational vaping among young people through regulations, enforcement, education, plain packaging and a ban on flavourings is welcomed.

However, this did not include clamping down on e-cigarette advertising, promotion and sponsorship on social media, which is also clearly needed.

Emphasis needs to be placed on enforcement of policies. This must include requiring social media platforms to report on how they’re ensuring regulations are being upheld.

Current policies and moderation processes are insufficient in restricting the spread of pro e-cigarette content on TikTok. This is exposing young social media users to e-cigarette use. There needs to be greater regulation of e-cigarette content and its promotion, to prevent future uptake and harm to young people.

Read more:
How can I help my teen quit vaping?

Jonine Jancey receives funding from Healthway and is a Board member of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health.

Renee Carey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. TikTok promotes vaping as a fun, safe and socially accepted pastime – and omits the harms – https://theconversation.com/tiktok-promotes-vaping-as-a-fun-safe-and-socially-accepted-pastime-and-omits-the-harms-203423

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carmel Pascale, Visiting Research Fellow, School of Humanities, University of Adelaide

The first episode of Ten Pound Poms opens onto a bleak scene.

As snow falls against a grey sky in Manchester, Terry Roberts (Warren Brown) works to repair buildings damaged during the second world war. We can barely see him through the smog; the sound of hammering dominates the scene. As it gets louder, it triggers flashbacks to his time as a prisoner of war.

At home, his wife Annie (Faye Marsay) carefully scrapes used tea leaves into a jar, fed up with the sacrifices and depredations of post-war Britain.

That night, while tending to Terry – who has collapsed after another evening at the pub where he has spent their meagre income – Annie seizes on a newspaper advertisement offering her family the opportunity to “build a new life in sunny Australia” for only ten pounds.

Set in 1956, Ten Pound Poms, a co-production between the BBC and Stan, tells the story of British migrants as they struggle to build new lives in a distant and unknown land.

Australia’s post-war migration program

Migration to Australia offers the Roberts family the promise of a fresh start, “a bright future” in a “modern” country with abundant fresh food, and a brand-new whitewashed house and family car.

The “Ten Pound Pom” scheme was launched in 1945 and continued into the early 1970s. It was just one of Australia’s assisted passage schemes of the post-war era. Most of the 1.5 million Britons who came to Australia until 1981 were part of such a scheme.

Australia’s post-war migration program was driven by the imperative to “populate or perish”. The second world war had demonstrated Australia’s vulnerability to foreign invasion, and migrants were needed to fuel its burgeoning post-war industrial development and infrastructure projects.

But until the 1960s, the White Australia Policy was very much in place. Australia was still a British country and a proud member of the British Empire, with a preference for British migrants.

Read more:
The changing face of Australian immigration

A new life?

Australia offered the Roberts family an opportunity to “work hard, prosper” and own their own home. But once they arrive in Australia, their dream of a new life is dealt a blow.

As assisted migrants, they are sent straight to a migrant hostel camp, where they will live while earning enough to pay their own way. Their dream of “white washed houses and huge gardens” dissipates as they take their first look at the “squalor” of the Nissen huts, outdoor communal showers and drop toilets.

“They lied to us,” says Annie.

Most assisted migrants who arrived by ship ended up in these camps, where they could stay while they looked for work and resettled. But those who had trouble finding work stayed for many months, if not years.

Terry, a qualified builder, must take any work he is offered as long as no Australians want it. His first job is digging ditches for a gas pipeline.

At work, he is subject to name-calling, ostracism and the threat of violence.

Under the scheme, migrants were obligated to stay and work in Australia for at least two years to repay their subsidised travel. After this, up to 25% chose to return home.

The challenges faced by British migrants were shared by those from many other countries. These migrants were not only subject to the same onerous visa conditions and racist attitudes, but denied the privileges accorded the British: the right to vote, get an Australian passport, and receive social security benefits.

But in the series, these non-British migrants are used only as a backdrop. Their stories could have given us a much richer picture of hostel life. Instead they make only brief appearances, and even then, often as caricatures, such as the lazy and overly-emotional Italian, Maria (Sarah Furnari).

An imperial past

Ten Pound Poms is a pacy, character-driven story grounded in historical research.

The series is also very interested in examining the experiences of First Nations Peoples, which it does through war veteran Ron Mahoney (Rob Collins) and his community at an old mission station near the hostel.

But Ten Pound Poms gives us an idealised portrayal of the migrants’ relationship with Ron and the other Aboriginal characters. While the local Australian characters exemplify the racist attitudes of white Australia, the Roberts family’s many interactions with Aboriginal people are entirely friendly and enlightened.

“They’re just people,” Annie tells Terry’s racist co-worker. “They were here long before you were.”

The series largely skips over Britain’s role in the history of colonisation.

Series writer, English screenwriter and playwright Danny Brocklehurst, rightly points out these migrant stories are an important aspect of Australia’s past that have received little attention. But equally important is that this remembering takes account of both Britain and Australia’s imperial past.

Despite these flaws, Ten Pound Poms has a cast of characters you’ll want to follow to the end. It will especially appeal to the many British migrants – both “back home” and in Australia – who will see their own family histories reflected in these characters.

Ten Pound Poms is on Stan and the BBC from Sunday.

Read more:
At times devastating, always powerful: new SBS drama Safe Home looks at domestic violence with nuance, integrity and care

Carmel Pascale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What BBC and Stan series Ten Pound Poms gets right – and wrong – about the British migrant experience in Australia – https://theconversation.com/what-bbc-and-stan-series-ten-pound-poms-gets-right-and-wrong-about-the-british-migrant-experience-in-australia-204764

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brad E Tucker, Astrophysicist, Australian National University

How did we get here? Where are we going? And how long will it take? These questions are as old as humanity itself, and, if they’ve already been asked by other species elsewhere in the Universe, potentially very much older than that.

They are also some of the fundamental questions we are trying to answer in the study of the Universe, called cosmology. One cosmological conundrum is how fast the Universe is expanding, which is measured by a number called the Hubble constant. And there is quite a bit of tension around it.

In two new papers led by my colleague Patrick Kelly at the University of Minnesota, we have successfully used a new technique – involving light from an exploding star that arrived at Earth via multiple winding routes through the expanding Universe – to measure the Hubble constant. The papers are published in Science and The Astrophysical Journal.

And if our results don’t quite resolve the tension, they do give us another clue – and more questions to ask.

Standard candles and the expanding Universe

We have known since the 1920s that the Universe is expanding.

Around 1908, US astronomer Henrietta Leavitt found a way to measure the intrinsic brightness of a kind of star called a Cepheid variable – not how bright they appear from Earth, which depends on distance and other factors, but how bright they really are. Cepheids grow brighter and dimmer in a regular cycle, and Leavitt showed the intrinsic brightness was related to the length of this cycle.

Leavitt’s Law, as it is now called, lets scientists use Cepheids as “standard candles”: objects whose intrinsic brightness is known, and therefore, whose distance can be calculated.

How does this work? Imagine it is night, and you are standing on a long, dark street with only a few light poles going down the road. Now imagine every light pole has the same type of light bulb, with the same power. You’ll notice the distant ones appear fainter than the nearby ones.

We know that light fades proportionately to its distance, in something called the inverse-square law for light. Now, if you can measure how bright each light appears to you, and if you already know how bright it should be, you can then figure out how far away each light pole is.

In 1929, another US astronomer, Edwin Hubble, was able to find a number of these Cepheid stars in other galaxies and measure their distance – and from those distances and other measurements, he could determine that the Universe was expanding.

Different methods give different results

This standard candle method is a powerful one, allowing us to measure the vast Universe. We are always looking for different candles that can be better measured, and seen at much greater distances.

Some recent efforts to measure the Universe further from Earth, like the SH0ES project I was a part of, led by Nobel laureate Adam Riess, have used Cepheids alongside a type of exploding star called a Type Ia supernova, which can also be used as a standard candle.

There are also other methods to measure Hubble’s constant, such as one that uses the cosmic microwave background – relic light or radiation that began to travel through the Universe shortly after the Big Bang.

The problem is that these two measurements, one nearby using supernovae and Cepheids, and one much farther away using the microwave background, differ by nearly 10%. Astronomers call this difference the Hubble tension, and have been looking for new measurement techniques to resolve it.

A new method: gravitational lensing

In our new work, we have successfully used a new technique to measure this expansion rate of the Universe. The work is based on a supernova called Supernova Refsdal.

In 2014, our team spotted multiple images of the same supernova – the first time such a “lensed” supernova had been observed. Instead of the Hubble Space Telescope seeing one supernova, we saw five!

How does this happen? The light from the supernova went out in all directions, but it travelled through space warped by the enormous gravitational fields of a huge cluster of galaxies, which bent some of the light’s path in such a way that it ended up coming to Earth via multiple routes. Each appearance of the supernova had reached us along a different path through the Universe.

Imagine three trains leaving the same station at the same time. However, one goes directly to the next station, the other makes a wide trip through the mountains, and another via the coast. They all leave and arrive at the same stations, but take different trips and so while they leave at the same time, they will arrive at different times.

So our lensed images show the same supernova, that exploded at one certain point in time, but each image has travelled a different path. By looking at the arrival at Earth of each appearance of the supernova – one of which happened in 2015, after the exploding star had been spotted already – we were able to measure their travel time, and therefore how much the Universe had grown while the image was in transit.

Are we there yet?

This gave us a different, but unique measurement of the growth of the Universe. In the papers, we find this measurement is closer to the cosmic microwave background measurement, rather than the nearby Cepheid and supernova measurement. However, based on its location, it should be closer to the Cepheid and supernova measurement.

While this does not settle the debate at all, it gives us another clue to look at. There could be a problem with the supernova value, or our understanding of galaxy clusters and the models to apply to lensing, or something else entirely.

Like the kids in the back of the car on a road trip asking “are we there yet”, we still don’t know.

Brad E Tucker receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Australian Capital Territory government.

– ref. How fast is the Universe really expanding? Multiple views of an exploding star raise new questions – https://theconversation.com/how-fast-is-the-universe-really-expanding-multiple-views-of-an-exploding-star-raise-new-questions-205242

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shi Dai, ARC DECRA Fellow, Western Sydney University

Fast radio bursts – intense, milliseconds-long flashes of radio energy from outer space – have puzzled astronomers since they were first spotted in 2007. A single burst can emit as much energy in its brief life as the Sun does in a few days.

The great majority of the short-lived pulses originate outside our Milky Way galaxy. We don’t know what produces most of them, or how.

In new research published in Science, we observed a repeating fast radio burst for more than a year and discovered signs it is surrounded by a strong but highly changeable magnetic field.

Our results suggest the source of this cosmic explosion may be a binary system made up of a neutron star whirling through winds of dense, magnetised plasma produced by a massive companion star or even a black hole.

A fast radio burst that never stops repeating

The repeating burst known as FRB 20190520B was discovered in 2022 by astronomers at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in China. Repeating fast radio bursts are rare, but FRB 20190520B is the rarest of all: it is the only one that never rests, producing radio bursts a few times an hour, sometimes at multiple radio frequencies.

After this intriguing object was first found, astronomers rushed to follow up the initial observation using other radio wavelengths.

Read more:
More ‘bright’ fast radio bursts revealed, but where do they all come from?

Further investigation showed FRB 20190520B resides in an extremely dense environment in a dwarf galaxy 3.9 billion light years away. There are also materials surrounding the FRB source that produce strong, persistent radio emissions.

This led to suggestions that the bursting source is a young neutron star in a complex environment.

Powerful magnetic fields

What else can we learn about this intergalactic firecracker and its environment? We carried out observations of FRB 20190520B using CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, in New South Wales and the Green Bank Telescope in the United States.

To our surprise, FRB 20190520B turned out to produce strong signals at relatively high radio frequencies. These high-frequency signals turned out to be highly polarised – which means the electromagnetic waves are “waving” much more strongly in one direction than in others.

We found the direction of this polarisation changes at different frequencies. Measuring how much it changes tells us about the strength of the magnetic field the signal has travelled through.

As it turns out, this polarisation measure suggests the environment around FRB 20190520B is highly magnetised. And what’s more, the strength of the magnetic field appeared to vary over the 16 months we observed the source – and even flipped direction entirely twice.

This change in direction of the magnetic field around a fast radio burst has never been observed before.

Filling in the picture

What does this tell us about FRB 20190520B? Most popular theories to explain recent observations of repeating fast radio bursts involve binary systems made up of a neutron star and either another massive star or a black hole.

While we cannot rule out other hypotheses yet, our results favour the massive star scenario.

Read more:
A brief history: what we know so far about fast radio bursts across the universe

Massive stars are known to have strong stellar winds with organised magnetic fields around them. If the source of the bursts were moving in and out of the stellar wind region as it travels through its orbit, we would expect the observed magnetic field direction to reverse.

The time scale of the magnetic field reversal, the measured variability in the apparent field strength, and the dense plasma surrounding the burst source all fit into this picture.

What’s next?

Our observations might provide crucial evidence to support the hypothesis that sources of repeating fast radio bursts have a massive companion capable of producing highly magnetised plasma.

More importantly, the binary hypothesis gives us a prediction for the future. If it is correct, the changes in polarisation of the radio signals from FRB 20190520B should rise and fall over longer periods of time.

So we will be watching. Future observations with Murriyang and the Green Bank Telescope will reveal whether FRB 20190520B is truly in a binary system – or whether the Universe will surprise us once again.

Shi Dai receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with CSIRO Space and Astronomy and the National Astronomical Observatory of China.

Reshma Anna-Thomas receives funding from NSF grant AAG-1714897. Reshma Anna-Thomas is affiliated with Department of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Di Li and Miroslav Filipovic do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Flip-flopping magnetic fields hint at a solution for puzzling fast radio bursts from space – https://theconversation.com/flip-flopping-magnetic-fields-hint-at-a-solution-for-puzzling-fast-radio-bursts-from-space-204902

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amitabh Mattoo, Honorary Professor of International Relations, The University of Melbourne

It is not surprising that recent acts of vandalism by suspected Sikh separatists in Australia and North America have generated a sense of déjà vu.

In March, groups of separatists vandalised the Indian consulate in San Francisco. Another group of separatists blocked the entrance to the Indian consulate in Brisbane, forcing it to close temporarily. This followed attacks on three Hindu temples in Australia, allegedly by supporters of a group called Sikhs for Justice.

Tensions are also rising in India over the same Sikh separatist movement, with sporadic bouts of violence and the recent arrest of a firebrand preacher and independence leader, Amritpal Singh, under India’s National Security Act.

Elsewhere, the alleged military chief of a Sikh separatist group, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, was gunned down in Lahore, Pakistan, last week. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The separatists demand the creation of a Sikh state, “Khalistan,” in the north of India. In various cartographic fantasies, this new state would include the Indian capital of New Delhi and Lahore, which which was the capital of the great Sikh leader, Ranjit Singh, in the early 19th century.

Are these recent acts marking the revival of a full-blown Sikh separatist movement like the one India saw in the 1980s?

Nearly four decades ago, the demand for a separate homeland for Sikhs generated widespread terror, particularly in the Indian state of Punjab. It radicalised sections of the overseas Indian diaspora, as well.

A violent history

There was some degree of disaffection within the Sikh community following the split of Punjab between Pakistan and India in the partition of 1947. In later years, Sikhs demanded certain things from the Indian government (for instance, better water-sharing rights and greater linguistic protection). Some also expressed a deeper and more forceful assertion of their religious identity.

This latent sense of alienation and insecurity was hijacked in the 1980s by militant groups backed by Pakistan, especially those sworn to the leadership of the controversial Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, whose followers occupied the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple Complex in 1984 – the most important religious site for Sikhs.

Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to flush out the terrorists, killing many civilians as well. In the aftermath, Gandhi was assassinated by her personal Sikh security guards.

Less than a year later, an Air India plane flying from Montreal to Mumbai was blown up in mid air, killing more than 300 passengers. After serving two decades behind bars, Inderjit Singh Reyat – the only person convicted – was released in February 2017 by Canadian authorities.

However, by the early 1990s, a combination of policies by the government – both carrots and sticks – and the inherent pragmatism of the Sikhs had restored peace in Punjab.

Read more:
UK role in 1984 temple raid will affect British Sikh identity

Sikhs in contemporary society

The current acts of violence and vandalism do not have the potency to be sustainable, nor do they have much support within India or the Sikh diaspora.

There are more than 30 million Sikhs worldwide, with the majority in the Indian state of Punjab.

Punjab remains a symbol of India’s growth story. And within India, the Sikhs are seen as a remarkable community: hardworking, resilient and mostly without a strong caste-based social hierarchy. They have traditionally thrived in the security forces and as agriculturalists.

Sikhism was founded in the 15th century, and is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak. The last of ten gurus to follow him, Gobind Singh, organised the Sikhs into a martial fighting force, the Khalsa.

Today, their teachings are collected in the holy book, Granth Sahib, which serves as the life guide for Sikhs.

Read more:
Who are the Sikhs and what are their beliefs?

The Sikhs have carved out a niche identity abroad as mostly loyal, reliable and law-abiding citizens who have done well, even in times of great adversity. Their temples, called gurdwaras, are open to all faiths and the karah prasad, a simple lunch of sweet pudding, is offered to visitors irrespective of their views or standing.

US President Joe Biden recently nominated a Sikh, Ajay Banga, as the president of the World Bank.

Could the violence of the 1980s be repeated?

There are some similarities between the Punjab of today and that of the 1980s. But this is only at the superficial level.

For one, the problems today are identifiable and manageable. These include unemployment and a lack of opportunities for young people, widespread substance abuse, discontent among farmers over controversial laws that have since been rescinded, and a lack of forward-thinking leadership.

For another, there is only support at the fringes for the separatists, both within Punjab and in the diaspora.

Admittedly, the decline of the traditional political parties in Punjab (Congress and the Akali Dal) has created a power vacuum. This space has been occupied by the upstart Aam Aadmi Party (the Ordinary Man’s Party), which is currently governing Punjab, and groups like Waris Punjab De (Heirs to the Real Punjab), led by the firebrand, Amritpal Singh.

Singh returned to Punjab in 2022 after years of working in Dubai as an ostensible social reformer. He campaigned against drug use and for puritanical Sikihism – but also advocated for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.

With increasing radicalisation, the situation could potentially worsen in the state. The political vacuum needs to be filled with legitimate, well-organised, politically sound voices. This is even more crucial after the recent death of Prakash Singh Badal, a five-time chief minister of Punjab, who had been a voice of sanity and statesmanship.

The Indian government and key stakeholders in Punjab seem well aware of the dangers of letting the situation worsen once again. There is a deep consciousness they must not let history repeat itself.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is a Sikh separatist movement seeing a resurgence four decades after sparking terror in India? – https://theconversation.com/is-a-sikh-separatist-movement-seeing-a-resurgence-four-decades-after-sparking-terror-in-india-204533

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Di Winkler, Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University

Just over three years ago, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the federal government would finally solve the issue of young people with disability having to live in nursing homes. The government developed a strategy and committed to getting all young people out of aged care facilities by 2025.

This week, NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) Minister Bill Shorten said this remained “absolutely the target”. The 2023–24 budget commits A$7.3 million to “further reduce the number of people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care”.

Since 2020, the federal government has spent more than $50 million on initiatives that have done little to improve the lives of young people living in aged care or those at risk of entry.

Given the lack of progress to date, the three new initiatives to be funded by this commitment are unlikely to achieve the 2025 target of no younger Australians living in facilities meant for much older people.

Read more:
Everyone is talking about the NDIS – we spoke to participants and asked them how to fix it

Why are young people in aged care facilities?

Younger people are typically admitted to aged care facilities after a late-onset disability such as a brain injury, or deteriorating with a neurodegenerative condition such as multiple sclerosis.

Two-thirds of younger people enter residential aged care from hospital. They may not be able to return to their previous home because it isn’t wheelchair accessible or they need a high level of paid support.

While Australians under 65 who acquire a severe disability are eligible for the NDIS and funding for housing and support, NDIS processes are slow. Young people can get lost in the gap between the health and disability systems and fall into aged care.

Our recent analysis looked at the pathways into and out of aged care in 2021-22. It shows fewer young people are entering residential aged care each year.

In June 2022, 2,934 younger people were in residential aged care, down from 3,899 in June 2021. During the year, there were 553 new admissions.

Some 1,518 people left. But this was mostly due to people either turning 65 and “ageing out” or dying.

There are an estimated 3,000 vacancies in disability housing across Australia, 1,000 of which are newly built specialist disability accommodation.

Yet last financial year, only 39 young people left residential aged care to go into NDIS-funded specialist disability accommodation. More than 500 NDIS participants aged under 65 remain in residential aged care with a goal to move.

So while the number of young people in residential aged care is diminishing, they’re not necessarily finding alternative accommodation.

What hasn’t done the job so far?

Since 2020, the federal government has implemented a range of ideas with limited success.

A $29.5 million program employed coordinators to support younger people to either move out of, or avoid entering, residential aged care.

This has not delivered on its objectives. Outcomes reported at a recent public forum included supporting two younger people to leave aged care and nearly 80 young people in residential aged care to become NDIS participants.

Read more:
‘It’s shown me how independent I can be’ – housing designed for people with disabilities reduces the help needed

The National Disability Insurance Agency (the NDIA, which administers the NDIS) has introduced specialist planners and an accommodation matching team.

But this team has had limited success, with fewer than 90 young people in residential aged care moving into their own home or disability housing that meets contemporary standards in 2022.

What’s in the budget?

The federal budget allocates $56.4 million to an NDIA “home and living” panel. This aims to increase the capacity of the NDIA to make timely and consistent decisions for NDIS participants seeking funding for housing and support. This will improve the consistency and timeliness of funding decisions and is urgently needed.

The budget allocation specific to young people in residential aged care includes training ($3.6 million) for the people to support and influence the decision of young people living in residential aged care who don’t have a goal to move.

The other funding is to centralise decision-making for younger people seeking to enter aged care ($2.4 million) and an evaluation of the young people in residential aged care initiative to date ($1.3 million).

What’s missing from the budget?

The federal budget doesn’t address funding for the skilled workforce needed to support this group to transition out of residential aged care.

Currently, young people are given a list of generic NDIS-funded support coordinators who do not have the expertise or skills to support them to make an informed choice about where they live or to support the transition into age-appropriate housing. There are no minimum qualifications for support coordinators.

Each young person in residential aged care requires around 40 hours of expert support from an experienced allied health professional to make an informed choice about housing and support options, and to move into their new accommodation.

Read more:
The NDIS is set for a reboot but we also need to reform disability services outside the scheme

Of the 2,153 young people in residential aged care who are NDIS participants, only 26% (556 people) currently have a goal to move. The budget targets the 1,597 people who don’t have a goal to move and not the 556 who do have a goal to move. This is perplexing.

A more logical approach would be to work with both groups and demonstrate great housing outcomes for the 556 people who want to move and share these stories to build the hope and confidence of people who are unsure about moving.

The initiatives announced in the budget do not address the main barrier to young people in aged care getting better housing outcomes: skilled support to explore alternative housing and move out of aged care.

A new approach

The federal government needs to collaborate with organisations with a track record of supporting young people in residential aged care to move out, rather than continue to rely on generic support coordinators with limited expertise.

The NDIA needs to step up and provide timely funding for contemporary disability housing and support for NDIS participants who have put their hand up to move out of aged care.

For young people in residential aged care where there is no suitable disability housing located near family and friends, the NDIA needs to provide the specialist disability accommodation market with detailed demand data so new housing can be built.

The NDIS is failing younger people in, or at risk of entering aged care. A new approach is needed.

Dianne Winkler is the Founder and CEO of the Summer Foundation and a director of Summer Housing

– ref. The budget includes $7.3 million to get more young people out of aged care homes. Is it enough? – https://theconversation.com/the-budget-includes-7-3-million-to-get-more-young-people-out-of-aged-care-homes-is-it-enough-205383

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University

Last year, the world built more new solar capacity than every other power source combined.

Solar is now growing much faster than any other energy technology in history. How fast? Fast enough to completely displace fossil fuels from the entire global economy before 2050.

The rise and rise of cheap solar is our best hope for rapidly mitigating climate change.

Total solar capacity tipped over 1 terawatt (1,000 gigawatts) for the first time last year. The sector is growing at around 20% a year. If this continues, we’ll hit 6 terawatts around 2031. In capacity terms, that would be larger than the combined total of coal, gas, nuclear and hydro.

Fewer and fewer new fossil fuel power stations are now being built. As the rest of the global fleet age, most will retire by mid-century.

Australia is finding the path

It might surprise you to learn that Australia is a global renewable energy pathfinder. Most solar panels use Australian-developed PERC technology, for instance.

All the leading countries for per capita solar and wind generation are in Europe – except Australia. In Australia, 99% of new generation capacity is now solar and wind because it is cheap.

But unlike European countries, Australia cannot share electricity across national boundaries.

Instead, we have to cope with rapidly increasing levels of solar and wind by sharing it across state boundaries. This is proving to be relatively straightforward. Solar and wind have reached a share of 31% of the national electricity market, while the grid remains stable.

Already, three states or territories are at very high penetration of renewables. The ACT has built or bought enough renewables to cover 100% of its use. Tasmania, too, is at 100% renewable power, thanks to hydro and wind, and is aiming to double this to export to other states. And South Australia will soon become the world’s first gigawatt-scale grid to run on renewables. Currently, it’s sourcing around 70% of its power from solar and wind.

This matters because of Australia’s location. Like 80% of the world’s population, we live at low to moderate latitudes where there is plentiful sunshine, even in winter. That means the methods we pioneer or test can be readily adopted by nearly everyone else.

Where will the era of ubiquitous solar take us?

Solar capacity has been growing at 20% a year for decades.

Elimination of fossil fuels from the global economy is straightforward: electrify everything using clean electricity from solar and wind. This includes:

• electric vehicles replacing conventional vehicles
• electric heat pumps replacing gas space and water heaters in homes and businesses
• electric furnaces replacing gas burners in factories
• electrolysis of water producing green hydrogen for the chemical industry, allowing for clean production of ammonia, metals, plastics and synthetic aviation fuel.

To run our homes, industries and vehicles with electricity, we’ll need to double electricity production. Why not more? Because electricity is usually much more efficient at producing an energy outcome. For example, 85% of the petrol you put into your car is wasted as heat.

In countries with a significant chemical industry, electricity production might need to triple.

If these trends continue, by mid-century we will be in a very different – and better –  energy world.

Many developing countries – including population giants such as Indonesia, India, China and Nigeria – could catch up with Europe or Australia for per capita energy consumption. Given electricity consumption is strongly correlated with affluence, access to cheap electricity will be a major boon for many nations.

But is it possible?

By 2050, Earth will have a population of about 10 billion people. To supply everyone with enough electricity to live a good life, we’ll need about 200 billion megawatt-hours per year (equal to 200,000 terawatt-hours per year).

Let’s assume that solar does the heavy lifting for decarbonisation, completing two-thirds of the task with the remaining one-third left to wind, hydro and everything else put together. Is it possible?

Yes. If sustained, solar’s growth rate of 20% per year is easily fast enough to reach 80 terawatts of installed capacity in 2050 – enough to provide 130,000 terawatt-hours per year and (with help from wind) to entirely decarbonise an affluent world.

That would see global electricity consumption reach 20 megawatt-hours per person per year – double Australia’s current consumption per person.

As well as eliminating most greenhouse emissions, we will also get rid of car exhausts, smokestacks, urban smog, coal mines, ash dumps, oil spills, oil-related warfare and gas fracking.

The main short-term bottlenecks are likely to be building enough transmission lines – and ensuring we have enough engineers and installers.

We have the space and the raw materials

Long term, there are practically no constraints on vast deployment of solar.

The sun will shine for billions more years. Raw materials for solar panels are abundant – silicon from sand and common metals like steel. There are no toxic metals or no critical materials like cobalt in them, and they are highly recyclable. Energy storage is now a solved problem.

Most countries have vastly more solar and wind resources than needed to be energy self-sufficient. This, in turn, will boost their resilience in the face of war, pandemics and the changing climate.

Densely populated regions without much free land such as Japan, Europe and the northeastern United States have enormous offshore wind resources, while Indonesia and west Africa have enormous offshore solar resources – picture solar farms floating on calm tropical seas.

We have plenty of space. Eighty terawatts of solar translates to 8 kilowatts per person. This is the size of a typical Australian rooftop solar system, which is usually shared by a family rather than an individual.

The required area of solar panel is about five square metres per kilowatt (40 square metres total for 8 kilowatts). Some of the panels will be on house roofs. Others will be on ground-mounted solar trackers and operated alongside agriculture. Some crops and grass like the partial shade given by panels. Other options include floating on lakes and seas.

For our energy intensive lives in Australia, we’ll need perhaps 15 kilowatts of solar and wind per person, which run reliably for 30 years and can then be dissembled and recycled.

In the 1950s, nuclear energy advocates talked of a future when energy was too cheap to meter. That didn’t happen with nuclear. But solar offers cheap, unlimited energy, available forever with minimal resource, environmental and social constraints.

Andrew Blakers receives funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and DFAT

– ref. Despairing about climate change? These 4 charts on the unstoppable growth of solar may change your mind – https://theconversation.com/despairing-about-climate-change-these-4-charts-on-the-unstoppable-growth-of-solar-may-change-your-mind-204901

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam T. Downie, Marine Biologist, James Cook University

If you’ve seen the hit animated film Finding Nemo, you might recall the character Dory singing the catchy tune “Just Keep Swimming” to help her clownfish friend Marlin make the long journey from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney.

In this case, art imitates life. Marathon swimming performances are a vital part of early life for the vast majority of coral reef fish. Baby (larval) reef fish – smaller than the size of your thumbnail – hatch from eggs laid on the reef and spend a few weeks in the open ocean before swimming back to the reef.

But how does such a small creature make this impressive journey? Our research published today set out to answer this question.

We found larval clownfish dramatically alter their physiology to complete their journey from the ocean back to the reef. In particular, they take in more oxygen per breath and at a faster rate than any other fish species studied to date. Essentially, this makes baby clownfish some of the smallest athletes on the planet.

Read more:
Dazzling or deceptive? The markings of coral reef fish

Mini athletes swimming 10-50 body lengths per second

Reef fish are vital to coral reef ecosystems. They play important roles in the food web, help keep the reef clean and recycle nutrients. Plus, their vibrant colours attract millions of tourists annually.

Adult reef fish keep to a small patch. Their eggs are carried off by wave action into the open ocean, where they hatch and develop.

Within a few weeks the tiny fish larvae must return to the reef. It’s a long, arduous journey that can last weeks to months. Depending on the species, they cover distances as far as 64 kilometres. So how do they do it?

Until the 1990s, scientists believed the development of larval reef fish was like that of other fish such as herring, cod and flatfish. These species “go with the flow”, passively riding ocean currents until they become large and developed enough to actively swim on their own, against the currents.

However, landmark studies from the early 1990s documented the impressive swimming capabilities of baby reef fish. It turns out reef fish are not passive particles after all.

Previous research has provided overwhelming evidence coral reef fishes are capable of amazing swimming performance as babies.

Some of these tiny athletes are capable of swimming 10-50 body lengths per second as a larva. For comparison, Olympic multi-gold medallist Michael Phelps races at just under two body lengths per second.

When paired with well-developed sensory systems such as vision and the sense of smell, such impressive athletic performance enables these babies to “just keep swimming” with or against ocean currents until they find an optimal reef on which to settle.

But 30 years after the discovery, we were still wondering how they manage it. Now we know.

Measuring the traits of an athlete

My colleagues and I measured physiological traits required to be an athletic swimmer across the entire larval phase of a clownfish. These traits included swimming speed, oxygen uptake rates, gene expression patterns, and tolerance to low oxygen (hypoxia).

Why hypoxia? At night, when it’s no longer possible to use sunshine and carbon dioxide to make energy by photosynthesis, corals and plants breathe in oxygen to make energy. This lowers oxygen levels on reefs. Larval reef fish returning home from the open ocean must prepare for such conditions.

We found larval clownfish have the highest oxygen uptake rates of any fish to date. This supports elite swimming, growth and development.

As they develop and swim faster, thousands of genes change. Genes that code for proteins that transport and store oxygen, such as haemoglobin and myoglobin (also found in our bodies), are especially important. They enable oxygen to be transported and stored during intense exercise and help retain oxygen in tissues when the fish experience hypoxia in their reef habitats.

The changes in haemoglobin and myoglobin genes also correspond to when these baby fish start to increase their hypoxia tolerance.

We’ve seen this before, in reverse. Salmon are one of the most studied fish of all time and, as adults, they’re pretty amazing athletes as well. However, baby salmon endure low oxygen conditions in the first few weeks of life, right after hatching, while they are hiding in the gravel of the freshwater riverbeds.

And, sure enough, back in the 1980s, research showed salmon switch their haemoglobin too – right when the baby salmon have to transition from being hypoxia tolerant, to training to become elite swimmers.

Why our research matters

The changes in physiological machinery that we uncovered are key to survival for clownfish. It’s likely other coral reef fish follow similar developmental pathways.

Reef fish – of all shapes, sizes, and colours – are integral for maintaining coral reef health and persistence of future coral reefs. This is crucial as climate change threatens these beautiful, delicate ecosystems.

Read more:
I studied what happens to reef fish after coral bleaching. What I saw still makes me nauseous

Adam Downie receives funding from the University of Queensland, and the Goodman Foundation Research Grant Scheme through the Morton Bay Research station. He is a member of the Australian Society for Fish Biology. His past affiliations include the University of New Brunswick (BSc student) and James Cook University (PhD student).

Jodie L. Rummer receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is the Vice President of the Australian Coral Reef Society.

– ref. Tiny aquatic athletes: how baby Nemo can ‘just keeping swimming’ from the open ocean to the reef – https://theconversation.com/tiny-aquatic-athletes-how-baby-nemo-can-just-keeping-swimming-from-the-open-ocean-to-the-reef-205126

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey West, Lecturer in Behavioural Finance, Griffith University

This article is part of our series on big ideas for the Universities Accord. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, and set it up for the next decade and beyond”. A review team is due to finish a draft report in June and a final report in December 2023.

Australians with a HECS-HELP debts are facing an estimated 7.1% increase on their debts come the middle of the year, thanks to inflation. Some students have been expressing shock and dismay as their loans are interest-free and they believed they would not grow.

Although it is not “interest”, the effect for borrowers is the same. Decades of low inflation have meant HECS-HELP indexation has been largely ignored – until now.

This comes on top of already-significant HECS-HELP debts. An arts and law undergraduate this year now pay more than A$15,000 per year in fees as a full-time student.

The repayments (which do not start until a certain income threshold is reached) impact disposable income and borrowing capacity and may negatively impact women disproportionately.

This is why universities should do more to help students better understand their HECS-HELP debt and make financial decisions in general. The Universities Accord is a prime opportunity to initiate this change.

The accord review is looking at how universities can meet the knowledge and skills needs of the future. On top of other generic skills learned at university, such as communication, collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking, we need to add financial literacy.

Studying is a financial decision

It can be argued universities have a moral obligation to build financial literacy skills and educate students about how course fees are charged and then repaid when they start working.

Universities rely on student fees as a substantial part of their funding. And students accrue significant amounts while studying – often in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The 2021 ANZ Financial Wellbeing Survey found that 18–24 year olds struggle with financial planning, choosing products, understanding online risks and credit-trap awareness.

What is financial literacy?

Financial literacy is a core life skill. It includes lodging tax returns, managing superannuation and ensuring you have enough money to look after yourself and your family.

It requires you to be competent in many aspects of the financial decision-making process. It includes the person’s knowledge of financial concepts, their ability to gather and sift through information and compare products, and their confidence in making decisions involving money.

Although the concept is broad, there is a set of five questions about interest rates, the stock market and mortgages that are regularly used to measure an individual’s level of financial literacy.

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey has asked these questions and shows a decline in average correct answers. Between 2016 and 2020 men went from 4.1 to 4.0 and women went from 3.7 to 3.5.

More alarming than the overall decline and increasing gender gap is the decline in financial literacy for those aged 15 to 24. Average scores fell from 3.4 to just 2.9 out of a possible five points for young people.

Read more:
Teaching and research are the core functions of universities. But in Australia, we don’t value teaching

Why should unis get involved?

Nothing substantial is currently being done to address this knowledge gap among young Australians.

In its early iterations, the National Financial Literacy Strategy (later named the Financial Capability Strategy) focused on driving improvement through formal education in schools.

However, the effort has not shifted the dial on school performance in terms of financial literacy and there are issues with the focus on maths in the school curriculum over building specific financial literacy skills.

The US example

Making financial literacy classes compulsory is not an overly ambitious goal. In the United States, 19 states either require or plan to require students to do a personal finance course to graduate from high school.

There are signs this may be mandated in colleges and universities. A 2019 US Treasury Department report recommended universities and colleges “should require mandatory courses to teach students financial concepts and skills”. This would include:

• clear, timely and customised information to inform student borrowing

• communicating importance of graduation and major on repayment of student loans

• preparing students to meet financial obligations upon graduation.

Many US universities already have financial literacy courses. The Ohio State University, for example, runs a financial coaching program to assist thousands of students each year in setting financial goals, budgeting and banking, credit, debt repayment, saving and retirement planning.

Read more:
Many students don’t know how to manage their money. Here are 6 ways to improve financial literacy education

How can we improve financial literacy?

There are many opportunities for Australian universities to formalise financial education.

At the strategic level, they should add “developing financially capable students” to the list of graduate attributes.

They could then mandate all students complete a course on managing personal finances as part of graduation requirements. There could be flexibility about how this is done – online and cross-institutional study are both obvious options.

Student services can also provide workshops on tax, budgeting, superannuation, insurance, inflation and the economy and investing.

Finally, if students are electing to defer their fees via HECS-HELP, they should be required to complete a specific non-graded financial literacy module to better understand the implications of accruing the debt.

Tracey West has received funding in the past from Ecstra Foundation, the Financial Basics Foundation and the Financial Planning Association to conduct research.

– ref. Studying can be a costly choice. Universities should address young people’s financial literacy gaps – https://theconversation.com/studying-can-be-a-costly-choice-universities-should-address-young-peoples-financial-literacy-gaps-203054

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Padraic Heaton, Casual Academic, University of Technology Sydney

Early this morning, millions of people around the world rushed to their Nintendo Switch to play The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and immerse themselves anew in this game’s vast, mythical kingdom of Hyrule.

This fresh release, a sequel to 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has been long awaited by Zelda fans around the globe, and the subject of breathless coverage in both specialist gaming media and the mainstream press.

So, why is this game such big news – even among those who don’t necessarily see themselves as “gamers”?

I’m a game design researcher focused on creating and developing systems that allow games to be played by anyone – and there cannot be a better example of that than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Read more:
The Super Mario Bros. Movie: don’t watch it for the story but for how it successfully represents gameplay

Who is this game for?

This game situates itself in the action-adventure genre, but that descriptor only scratches the surface. It offers an unparalleled open world, both in size and detail, and is uniquely able to cater to a huge audience.

Want to explore and discover a breathtakingly beautiful world? This game has you covered. Want to absorb a rich story built up over many years? This game lets you do that. Want to test your mettle and take down tough foes? This game is for you.

From the limited game play footage already released, it’s obvious Tears of the Kingdom allows the player to use their critical thinking skills to overcome puzzles their own way.

Taken together, Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild suggest Nintendo is pioneering a model focused on inclusivity and approachability. Players can take things at their own pace. The open-world exploration, engaging storytelling, mind-bending challenges and serene atmosphere draw audiences ranging from franchise veterans to those completely new to games.

Accessibility and creativity combine to give players an unparalleled level of freedom. The puzzles around every corner of the kingdom of Hyrule make this game compelling for newcomers and old hands alike.

What is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

Despite the franchise name, the game’s protagonist is the young knight Link (Zelda is the name of the princess he must help to set free). His task is to save the mythical kingdom of Hyrule by ridding it of the tyrannical overlord Ganon. In the previous game, Link must travel across the kingdom, seeking aid from the diverse species and tribes of the lands to uproot and vanquish Ganon.

From the promotional videos and early game play footage of the new game, we know Ganon has returned and Link must embark on a new adventure to defeat him.

To do so, players must navigate and explore new mysterious sky islands high above Hyrule, as well as the familiar sprawling landscapes of the previous game.

With the shift to the skies, Link has also received an updated suite of skills. He can now rewind time, ascend through ceilings, and – most importantly – combine items to create new and exciting weapons or vehicles.

This game allows you to combine real-world and in-game knowledge to literally invent your own solutions.

Why was Breath of the Wild such a, well, game-changer?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild caused genre-defining waves when it was released in 2017, forcing many to rethink what an open world game is.

Most open world games at the time featured much more linear narratives, forcing players to experience the world one small area after another. Many blocked players from content until they have progressed further in the story. This denies players from the freedom and choice Breath of the Wild relishes in.

At its core, Breath of the Wild allows you to do what you want, when you want, without forcing you down a particular path. After brief tutorials, you’re off on your quest to find Ganon – but what you do between now and then is completely up to you. You can spend the entire time picking and cooking mushrooms, if you like.

Subtle environmental cues help deliver a gripping narrative, and there are plenty of side quests along the way. Players who want the story can seek it out, while those who’d rather skip it are free to wander around deserts, oceans, forests and plains on their own personal voyage.

Another reason this game garnered such a vast and loyal fanbase is it allows players to do as much or as little as they feel up to that day.

Had a hard week and just want to relax? You can take to the skies with your paraglider and soar around breathtaking landscapes or hop on your horse to explore the nooks and crannies of Hyrule. In the mood for a challenge? Try your hand at one of hundreds of expertly designed puzzles (many of which have more than one solution). Keen for some biffo? Battle one of Ganon’s minions or practise your skills with a new weapon.

Unplanned interactions between game characters, landscapes or puzzles abound. That’s how this game can keep surprising even those players who have sunk hundreds of hours into it.

“What would happen if I do this?” you ask. This game always has an answer.

What do we know so far about Tears of the Kingdom?

Building on the previous game’s focus on discovery, players in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be spending a lot of time exploring the mysterious sky islands floating high above the land, bringing both new challenges and stunning scenery.

Players will have a range of new abilities that focus on invention and experimentation. Using the new “fuse” ability, you can combine a weapon with items found throughout the game to create new possibilities. Found a spiky metal ball? Why not stick it to the end of your sword and see what it does?

The new “ultrahand” feature allows you to combine a huge variety of vehicle components and in-game objects to create vehicles. Found a wooden board drifting in the ocean? Attach some fans, a sail and voilà! You’ve got a powerboat.

This allows player to apply knowledge from the real world and the game world to come up with creative solutions.

This game is extremely approachable, yet has the depth to keep players interested for years to come.

Read more:
Art for trying times: how a philosopher found solace playing Red Dead Redemption 2

Padraic Heaton receives a research stipend as a part of his research at UTS.

– ref. Here’s why The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is big news – even among those who don’t see themselves as ‘gamers’ – https://theconversation.com/heres-why-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-is-big-news-even-among-those-who-dont-see-themselves-as-gamers-205229

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

Peter Dutton needed to sketch a big picture in his Thursday night budget reply – to look like an alternative prime minister. He failed to do so.

With the Liberals rating parlously among those aged under 40, Dutton should have been speaking especially to these voters. But his address was more of the same from a Coalition that’s unable to refresh and regroup.

The bar was always going to be too high for Dutton. This week’s budget, whatever criticisms can be made of it and however things work out in the months ahead, has been an elusive target for the Liberals.

Dutton pointed to the formidable issues Australia is grappling with – very high inflation, a housing and rental crisis, crippling power bills, millions of people having gone backwards.

But he lacked prescriptions, let alone ones that were any more convincing than the government’s are.

He risked the government’s accusation of “punching down”, dividing those on welfare (who have benefitted from the budget) and working people on low wages. The cost-of-living relief “is targeted at Australians on welfare but at the expense of the many including Labor’s working poor”. The budget “hurts working Australians”, he declared; “worse, it risks creating a generation of working poor Australians”.

Dutton ticked off on budget items the Coalition agrees with or doesn’t oppose. But he left up in the air the fate of the $40 a fortnight rise in JobSeeker, arguing it would be better to raise the amount the unemployed could earn, rather than increasing the base rate. Interviewed later, he would not confirm the Coalition would support the $40 increase, but it is hard to see it opposing it when push comes to shove. Nevertheless, he has left himself vulnerable to obvious attack.

Dutton homed in on concern, which is likely to grow, about the looming large net migration influx (much of it a post pandemic “catch up”). Labor’s “big Australia approach” would worsen Australia’s cost-of-living and inflation problems, he said.

“Over five years, net overseas migration will see our population increase by 1.5 million people,” he said. “It’s the biggest migration surge in our country’s history and it’s occurring amidst a housing and rental crisis.”

Read more:
The day after the night before – Chalmers and Taylor on the budget

Yet Dutton did not say what his alternative would be – his statement a Coalition government would “sensibly manage migration” is a declaration of intent, not a policy.

He had plenty of familiar Coalition lines and sentiments. “Under a Coalition government I lead, your taxes will always be lower.” “Taxation is the killer of aspiration.” “Labor recklessly spends, carelessly cuts and inadequately saves.”

But his policy offerings were small beer: a ban on sports betting during the broadcasting of games; commitments on health; imposing a greater onus on big digital companies to stop scams and financial fraud; the restoration of the cashless debit card. A personal priority was a promise to double the size of the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.

What was missing was any ambitious initiative on a central issue. While it’s still relatively early in the term, and Anthony Albanese showed the benefit of holding policy back, Dutton is in a different situation.

He is confronting a popular government, not one on the slide. And voters won’t be attracted to an opposition that can’t project what it stands for, or whose values are seeming out of sync with the times.

Notably, Dutton as yet is giving no commitment on one significant tax measure in the budget – the changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, due to yield $2.4 billion over the forward estimates. The government hopes for opposition support, rather than a haggle with the Greens, whose leader Adam Bandt on Thursday said his party would, if it had the opportunity, fight to make the companies “pay their fair share of tax”.

The Greens’ aggressive response to the budget has underscored the challenge ahead for Labor from an increasingly assertive electoral competitor.

This came in a week when the broader hostility between Greens and Labor exploded in the Senate.

The Greens sided with the Coalition to prevent the government bringing to a vote on Thursday legislation for its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the interest on which would finance social and affordable houses.

Read more:
No, the budget does not make further interest rate rises more likely

Senate leader Penny Wong lashed out at Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather (who last year won the Queensland seat of Griffith from Labor), accusing him of “prioritising media attention from stunts and obstruction over housing for women and kids fleeing domestic violence”.

“This man’s ego matters more than housing for women fleeing domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness. What sort of party are you?” she said.

The Greens and Coalition also teamed up to ensure a longer Senate inquiry on family law legislation.

In response to the budget, predictably the Greens have delivered biting assessments, declaring it hasn’t gone far enough to help the needy.

Ahead of next year’s budget, this pressure from the left will just intensify.

Read more:
Budget 2023 at a glance: major measures, cuts and spends

The government’s economic inclusion advisory group, which was a major player in forcing the budget’s across-the-board (modest) rise in JobSeeker will produce another pre-budget report. That will inevitably urge further rises in welfare payments.

Assuming the government fell short of meeting the full recommendations, this would be manna for the Greens. And there’ll be a fresh round in the argument over the Stage 3 tax cuts. If these are not recalibrated, the Greens will have more ammunition.

Framing the 2024 budget, the government could be pulled between delivering more on welfare, keeping its promises on the tax cuts and, with an eye to the election due by May 2025, doing something substantial for middle Australia.

The last election, which added three more seats to the Greens’ lower house representation, bringing them to four, and boosted their Senate numbers from nine to 12, was a sharp reminder to Labor that the threat to it from the left is on the march.

It’s perhaps telling that budget week has seen the government rather complacent in the face of a weak opposition, but agitated by the minor party.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Grattan on Friday: Peter Dutton warns of threat to ‘working poor’ in budget reply lacking a big picture – https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-peter-dutton-warns-of-threat-to-working-poor-in-budget-reply-lacking-a-big-picture-199110